Arkadius Farcleaver-Hogg
Arkadius Farcleaver-Hogg (a.k.a. Arky)
Arkadius Farcleaver-Hogg is a winged Tiefling, standing at 7 feet tall and is of average build. He has long, spiralling horns that stretch out from the top of his forehead and lean backwards over what used to be neatly trimmed hair. Arkadius carries himself with an air of someone who has let go certain importances (trimmed neat beard and hair for one), and has grown up quickly, facing the world with a more serious demeanour. Arkadius' once-dark burgundy complexion has softened over the years, yet his piercingly feline orange eyes remain as sharp as ever.
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
Strength and physique is not a main priority for Arkadius, who from past experience has clearly missed more-than-one-too-many leg-days (See journal entry titled A Simple Job). Arkadius has taken an academic route in life, having preferred to flex his brain-muscles.
Body Features
The main striking feature of Arkadius' body is his pair of burgundy red and midnight-black bat-like wings that hang from his back, combined with the horns stretching back from his forehead. Arkadius' skin is a shade of soft burgundy. He is of average build, not necessarily keeping up with an exercise regime per se, though he is kept fairly fit and active through his two passions in life: adventuring, and his fiancé Kassandra Farcleaver.
Facial Features
Arkadius once sported a neatly-trimmed black goatee and moustache, rather prominent below his feline orange eyes and blackish dark-burgundy skin-coloured horns protruding from his forehead, stretching back over his head towards his back and wings. His hair and beard are now grown out, his hair held up in what is colloquially known as a man-bun. He has gaunt cheekbones, leading to a sharp-looking pointed chin.
What was once small flickers of silvery-white hair appearing in Arkadius' sideburns, beard and moustache following his adventures in Fallford and Shadowfell in Home Sweet Home, given his aging significantly due to time-differences between his home demipkane and the Material Plane, have now taken true hold.
Identifying Characteristics
Arkadius is a fairly unique specimen as far as tieflings are presented. He has various features that normal tieflings do not exhibit, such as having six fingers on each hand, as well as midnight black-coloured bat-like wings extruding from his back. He is also known to have a natural aroma of brimstone that follows him about.
Following the events of Return to the Prince, Arkadius has embraced the tattoo that appeared on the back of his right-hand upon picking up the notice on the rumour noticeboard, which resembles a mountain and a wave (the sign of the earth and water elementals respectively).
Arkadius also has a very small mark on his forehead, where the Raven Queen touched him to break him free of his Pact with Swan in What The Raven Knows.
Physical quirks
Arkadius, as previously noted, is a unique specimen of a tiefling. He is a rare breed, having been born with wings, six fingers on each hand, and the exotic natural aroma of brimstone following him around.
While some believe this is due to hygiene issues, Arkadius maintains that he holds high standards in this regard, and that there is nothing wrong with his natural aroma.
Apparel & Accessories
Many moons ago, Arkadius sought out a famous tailor residing in the city of Waterdeep and enquired into hiring them to prepare designs for a set of clothes that would allow him to stick his wings through, but also keep warm and wrapped up when he didn't want his wings poking out. The tailor promptly threw him out of his store, and Arkadius was forced to find an alternative.
Another tailor in the city was willing to take on the work, and Arkadius promptly took them up on the offer. After many months of designing, redesigning, testing and sewing, the result was a set of clothing (robes et al) which featured enclosed flaps on the back, meaning Arkadius could poke his wings out through them and use them while fully dressed, while avoiding clothing-related social mishaps (for example, ripped or shredded clothing). Arkadius has since shipped back various items of cloting and armour to the tailor to amend and improve using the unique methods.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Details of Arkadius' history have been recorded in various journal entries. To read these, visit the write-ups page of The Kantas Expanse's forum, or to listen to The Adventures of Arkadius Hogg podcast.
Gender Identity
Born and self-identifies as Male.
Sexuality
Arkadius' sexuality is not publicly known, however he has a wedding ring on his finger from a past marriage which he seldom discusses, often choosing to move the conversation on swiftly if it is mentioned.
Rumours of Arkadius and Kassandra Farcleaver of the Errant Guard have also begun to spread around K'ul Goran and Kantas, following the Avernus retreat in 1497 (in session The Tale of These Days). As they were leaving the battlefield following the training exercise in A Diplomatic Exercise a few weeks later, Arkadius plucked up enough courage to ask Kassandra Farcleaver out on a date, who replied "Took you long enough, Arkadius.".
Arkadius took an extended break away from adventuring in Kantas in 1498, where he spent several months living with Kassandra, joining her on various Errant Guard missions. Following a brief return to assist in some matters, Arkadius chose to propose to Kassandra, who accepted wholeheartedly.
Education
During his childhood, Arkadius was taught in school alongside the other children of Fallford, and he was alone most of the time given he was one of the only tiefling children in his age group. He remained stoic to this, and paid attention to the lessons.
Arkadius was also taught the lyre as a child, and has retained this knowledge through to his adulthood.
Employment
Arkadius was previously self-employed, mananging FfirstGroup (the parent company of FfirstMail and FfirstTravel), however he set up a stock system and sold the stocks to his employees prior to taking an extended break from adventuring in Kantas during 1498.
FfirstMail provides a Post Office and postal delivery network within Port Ffirst similar to the service Wendy provides for Daring Heights, and actually offering delivery of post to Daring Heights via Wendy.
FfirstTravel offers safe, quick and luxurious travel options between various locations, including between Port Ffirst and Daring Heights. The horse-drawn carriages and carts can be used for passenger operations, however are frequently also loaned to FfirstMail should freight operations be required.
Accomplishments & Achievements
Arkadius claims his second-best accomplishment is annoying and irritating a monstrous bugbear to the point where they threw both their weapon and shield at him, leaving themselves defenceless.
Arkadius' best achievement was providing Port Ffirst with a fast, efficient and cost-effective privatised postal delivery network. Following the near-mass destruction of Port Ffirst, Arkadius is yet to return to the city to check on his former workers and friends.
Mental Trauma
As an adventurer, it is natural that Arkadius will have faced considerable mental trauma over the years, however the greatest hit to his mental state was losing his husband to an attack in Waterdeep in 1494. Other major impacts to mental health include forming a pact with Swan after meeting his husband and mentor.
Arkadius personally considers the pact to have at least been liberating to a degree, especially as it gave him the confidence to leave his birthtown of Fallford, which he had been dreaming of doing throughout his childhood.
During the war in Avernus against Zariel, Arkadius was faced with a choice, which would end with fatal consequences for one of the two forces fighting along the group. Arkadius was asked to either send the Order of the Crimson Fist's Heavy Cavalry or the Errant Guard to cover retreat of the remainder of the forces' to ensure they had a safe passage and could make it back to the Material plane before the portal closed. The force sent to cover the retreat would know that this would be their final play, and they were highly unlikely to survive.
Arkadius chose to send the OCF's Heavy Cavalry to cover their retreat, and commanded the Errant Guard to move towards the portal in retreat. Arkadius forced himself to look back at the battleground during the retreat, forcing himself to observe and watch the Heavy Cavalry ride to their deaths at the hands of the devils, a memory which will stick with him for the rest of his life.
Before the adventurers teleported back to the Dawnlands without him (as Arkadius had elected to stay with Kassandra Farcleaver for a night) following the events in A Diplomatic Exercise, Ser Baine stepped away from the circle and asked Arkadius for a moment, to the side. Ser Baine advised Arkadius that he had heard a lot about him, prompting Arkadius to apologise he had been unable to spare time to visit the Order of the Crimson Fist's compound to explain his actions in Avernus fully. Ser Baine admonished Arkadius for this, saying that nobody in the Order beared him any ill-will, explaining that the Cavalry all signed up and swore to protect the Dawnlands, and they died doing what they desired to do. In fact, Ser Baine advised Arkadius that he honoured the Cavary by ordering them to cover the retreat. Ser Baine then took off his gauntlet, offering the now-exposed hand
out wordlessly for a handshake. Arkadius accepted, shaking Ser Baine's hand, putting one more sliver of emotional trauma into the "Resolved" section of his brain, and Ser Baine returned to the teleport circle.
Morality & Philosophy
While others have accused him of being self-serving and cowardly at times, Arkadius himself knows that he has a personal code of conduct and morality to which he remains true.
He tries at all times to maintain a balance between action and survivability, and also a careful balance between white and black, light and dark, good and bad. He has chosen to stand in the center space, following the grey very intentionally as it allows for the greater freedom and flexibility to act in situations as is deemed necessary at the time.
Arkadius has no qualms about acting as a devil's advocate (which some people unfortunately take quite literally due to his tiefling heritage), and while he doesn't like endless and pointless debate, will be more than willing to engage in debate where it makes reasonable sense.
Personality Characteristics
Motivation
Arkadius' motivations were mostly unknown while there was only one being on the Material Plane who knew of Arkadius' past, however he has opened up to several more adventurers, and more and more people know of his history from Fallford, the demiplane of Shadowfell. Arkadius now adventures within Kantas to find where his former pstron Swan remains, and has vowed to make her suffer.
Vices & Personality flaws
Arkadius is partial to fire whiskey, and alcohol of many kinds, and is known to enjoy imbibing alcoholic spirits with friends and strangers alike.
Social
Contacts & Relations
In his time in Kantas, Arkadius has become good friends with a variety of different adventurers.
The Planes of Existence
The Planes of Existence was formed as a partnership after Arkadius introduced to each other two of his closest friends, Sheryl and Mathew. At the time of the introduction, Arkadius was in the process of drunkenly admitting his musical childhood and background to Mathew, which Sheryl overheard. His two musical friends then encouraged him to open up with them, hence the band forming.Mathew Mentar
Arkadius first met Mathew on his very first adventure, having not long arrived into Kantas and looking to settle down (see journal entry "Return to Kundar"). Arkadius didn't have much of an opportunity to settle down, having set straight off to Kundar with his new associates.Merla
Arkadius and Merla have an endearing friendship, having formed a bond through adventuring together regularly, combined with the later musical tendencies becoming clear. Merla was originally the only person within Kantas that Arkadius trusted with the knowledge of his true and full history from birth to current time, being his best friend and confidante, however since has opened up to more adventurers, even taking some to his former home When Merla was recalled to her home in the Feywild, Arkadius was heartbroken at the loss of his best friend, however she soon returned to Kantas, and they were reunited in their efforts to thwart the Vanguard in K'ul Goran, culminating in the battle in Avernus.Menace (Mace)
Menace became one of Arkadius' earliest and best friends when travelling in Kantas, and it was natural that the pair would work together as part of Menace's burgeoning enterprises within Port Ffirst. Arkadius serves as Menace's right-hand tiefling, occasionally providing advice and suggestions, as well as assisting with work. This has lessened over time, as Arkadius spent more time working as part of his own enterprise, FfirstGroup, however the two remain the dearest of friends.Taz
Arkadius and Taz's primary friendship is one involving a considerable amount of alcohol. In between work and adventuring, Arkadius will happily spend time with any and all of his friends in whatever drinking establishment is most suitable in the area.Wil Frozendagger
Arkadius has always been privately jealous of Wil, being at home with the water (as described in "Return of the Prince"), however has always strived to remain civil and friendly with his fellow adventurer. Following the events of "Return to the Prince", Arkadius was able to learn from his friend, and has also set upon the goal of harnessing and partnering with all four elements (fire, earth, air and water).Onno
Arkadius and Onno have travelled on several quests together, and Arkadius remembers Onno as the "funny lizard with a shell" (a reference to Onno claiming Caex to be a turtle without a shell during "Amorphophallus Titanium").BB
Arkadius and BB have adventured together several times, and for Greengrass in 1497 (their shared birthday), Arkadius brought a horse-drawn cart full of alcohol to New Hillborrow to celebrate.Family Ties
Arkadius' mother left the demiplane of Fallford when Arkadius was a baby, leaving him to be raised by his father alone. He is an only-child, having no siblings. On leaving Fallford himself not long after his 19th birthday, Arkadius cut his own ties to the majority of his family, and hasn't considered their existence since leaving.
During the events of Fell Shadows, Beckoning, Arkadius and his fellow adventurers were entrusted with a wisp by The Raven Queen to guide them to their task. The Raven Queen advised Arkadius that this soul knows the way. The wisp gave Arkadius a sense of affection and familiarity before it expended the last of it's energy to ensure the group made it to where they were headed, with Arkadius fully believing that this was the soul of his departed mother.
Arkadius also learned the terrible fate of his father after returning to Fallford during Home Sweet Home, learning that his father had been attacked and cast out of the town after the populace believed that Arkadius' betrayal was the cause of the town's problems. What happened after Arkadius' father was cast out of the town and into the wilderness was never resolved, leading the likelist event being that his father succumbed to danger out in the plane's wilderness.
Religious Views
Arkadius doesn't align himself with any specific religious or spiritual views, and after The Raven Queen was able to free him from his pact, he especially does not believe in the Almighty powerof his former warlock patron, Swan.
Arkadius has received visions directly from The Raven Queen during adventures within Shadowfell, which has set him questioning who he should be serving, and how he should be behaving.
During the events of Fell Shadows, Beckoning, Arkadius swore to serve the Raven Queen "in this life and after it" as a trade for Her restoring Sheryl's feebled mind.
Following the events of Home Sweet Home, Faye, Bones and Wren witnessed an argument between Arkadius and an unseen being, only hearing Arkadius' side of the conversation, which seemed to be extremely tense, ending with Arkadius goading Swan into action, inviting Her to attack.
"Come try me, Swan. Come f***ing try me. You've seen what I can do. You've seen what my friends can do. So you know what? Come try.".
Following the events of What The Raven Knows, the Raven Queen released Arkadius from his pact with Swan, releasing him from Her grasp and setting him on the path of destroying Swan completely. This reunlocked access to the shadow magic that had been within Arkadius since his birth, owing to his connection to Shadowfell.
Social Aptitude
Arkadius was once sarcastic, witty, and downright rude at times. However for his closest friends, he is loyal, friendly and kind, and outwardly he has become more serious and stern.
Hobbies & Pets
While not technically pets, Arkadius has two permanent travelling companions in the form of Ida and Sacha. Arkadius is currently not considering picking up actual pets for fear of jealousy from Ida.
Ida (familiar)
Ida is his familiar, brought about by his power as granted by his patron Swan. She has appeared in two forms, a weasel and a cat, however most of the time she stays in weasel form. She will usually ask to be allowed to roam the city in her cat form on the rare occasions that she is is not with Arkadius when out adventuring, promptly asking Arkadius to return her to weasel form when he returns. Arkadius dismissed Ida shortly before travelling back to the Shadowfell to ask the Raven Queen for Her support in challenging Swan, his former Warlock Patron, knowing that if all went to plan that he would no longer have access to the magic that he used to bring Ida into the world. Months later, Arkadius focused his Bardic powers to allow him to once more summon a familiar, and Ida returned, more Celestial than Fiend owing to the magic in use, and now has golden-amber fur rather than the black fur she previously had.Sacha (mount)
Sacha is a warhorse that Arkadius purchased early on in his time in the Kantas Expanse, which usually resided in the yard of the FfirstGroup office. Now Sacha either travels with Arkadius or stays in the Daring stables.
Born to a blacksmith father and chef mother, Arkadius is a rare specimen of a tiefling. Usually sarcastic and chipper, Arkadius has become more stern and serious during his time residing in K'ul Goran.
Character Location
Alignment
Chaotic Neutral
Honorary & Occupational Titles
Arkadius, through sheer business acumen, has bequeathed himself with various formal titles, including Director of FfirstGroup, Postmaster of FfirstMail and Coachmaster of FfirstTravel. As he has sold the business to the employees, he no longer refers to himself by any of these titles.
Arkadius was also referred to as "Deathbringer", and "the Wayward Son" by the Raven Queen during Fell Shadows, Beckoning.
During his expedition to Fallford in Home Sweet Home, Arkadius also learned that for many, many decades he was known as "The Betrayer", after the survivors of multiple invasions by githyanki were believed to have found their way to Fallford following Arkadius' leaving, which led to the plane slowly dying. He was initially saddened and distraught by this discovery, but owned the title when he later thay dame day forgave those of the town who bullied him, and took the last remaining survivors of Fallford back to Port Ffirst.
Age
34 (appears older owing to Shadowfell time shenanigans)
Date of Birth
Greengrass, 1465
Birthplace
Fallford, Demiplane of Shadowfell, the Plane of Shadow (lost to magic)
Children
Current Residence
Fair Winds, Daring Heights, Kantas
Gender
Male
Eyes
Feline orange
Hair
Black, with tinges of silvery-white
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Soft Burgundy
Height
7ft
Weight
175 lb.
Quotes & Catchphrases
"One bottle of whiskey in my bag, one bottle of whiskey! You take it out, and have a swig, and put the bottle of whiskey back in the bag!" - The Whiskey Song, first publicly sung during "Amorphophallus Titanium", dated 8th of Hammer, 1497.
Pre-Birthday Shenanigans
30thnif Tarsakh, 1497
The men aren’t terribly happy that you’ve claimed a carriage for your own use, you know, Ida mentally whispered to Arkadius through their mental link, the cat hopping up onto the desk having just jumped through the open window from the yard. “I know, I overheard them whispering when I was loading the last of the boxes onto the carriage up this morning, I'm surprised they didn't hear me and realise I was there.”
He shrugged, “They sometimes forget that, you know… they are mine to do with as I see fit.” Arkadius waved a hand in the yard’s direction. “I brought up this organisation from nothing. Before me, Port Ffirst had no post. And look at us now, horses and carriages and all.” He smiled to himself for a moment. “And besides… it’s for my birthday. And I deserve a celebration, after the years I have had.”
A moment of sadness crossed Arkadius’ face as the memories of Birthdays-past resurface, but he recovered as quickly as it appeared. He looked back down at the desk he was sat at, picking up his quill and dipping it in the inkpot. “Dearest Kassandra,”, he wrote at the top of the neat square of parchment. It was the best quality he could get in the city. This letter deserved quality.
“Besides, it isn't like I didn't pay for it. I submitted my own order paperwork and everything. I booked the carriage through the proper channels.”
This elicited another smile from him. Ever since his last adventure in Kundar, Arkadius seemed like a very different person. He was back to who he was before he had started agonising over Lady Khaosborn. He had lost his stress, started smiling and being more humorous again. And most importantly, he wasn't drunkenly ranting in the tavern as much. Everything was returning to normal.
He replaced the quill and ink bottle into his desk drawer with a clatter. “I really need to remember to oil this damn drawer at some point,” he grumbled, pushing the drawer closed with effort. He stood up, brushing himself down and smiled again. “Right then. I just need to make sure that this very important letter makes its way to Daring Heights today so that it can be on the earliest shipment possible to K’ul Goran. And then I can relax, and set off for New Hillborrow. I bet BB will be glad to see me. And I'm hoping Sheryl will be there too!” Just remember it isn't just your birthday, and that it is BB’s too. And it will be the Greengrass celebrations too. You picked the best day to be born, the pair of you. “I know it isn't all about me. I am happy with that, you know? Why do you think I'm taking so many bottles? Enough for everyone to celebrate whatever they want!”
He replaced the quill and ink bottle into his desk drawer with a clatter. “I really need to remember to oil this damn drawer at some point,” he grumbled, pushing the drawer closed with effort. He stood up, brushing himself down and smiled again. “Right then. I just need to make sure that this very important letter makes its way to Daring Heights today so that it can be on the earliest shipment possible to K’ul Goran. And then I can relax, and set off for New Hillborrow. I bet BB will be glad to see me. And I'm hoping Sheryl will be there too!” Just remember it isn't just your birthday, and that it is BB’s too. And it will be the Greengrass celebrations too. You picked the best day to be born, the pair of you. “I know it isn't all about me. I am happy with that, you know? Why do you think I'm taking so many bottles? Enough for everyone to celebrate whatever they want!”
Triumph of the Vanguard
7th of Tarsahk, 1497
Arkadius’ return journey back to Port Ffirst from Daring Heights started much later than he had originally intended it to. He'd spent time with a friend, having an overdue catch-up. Regardless, eventually he would have to set off and return back to his two companies… But this is not the story of the catch-up, this is the story of afterwards.
”How was that, Ida? How did I handle it, do you think?” he asked, under his breath, stepping out through the door of The Four Fair Winds.
You were admirable, in my opinion. You didn’t ask the question you wanted to ask straight away, and you shared information. You were relaxed, and, well… you even accepted her apology. I didn’t think you’d come this far in your… thoughts.
”I didn’t expect to see her in person, so I had to… consider my position carefully. Besides, I didn’t want to lose another bottle of ink.”
Arkadius was now on the road between Daring Heights and Port Ffirst. He had made arrangements for Menace to return in the horse and carriage alone, when they returned through the portal from K’ul Goran. A few people walking past stared at him, talking to himself under his breath, and he just gave one of them a friendly grin. They just walked away faster, shaking their head, as Arkadius chuckled to himself.
You’re making jokes about the bottle now? My my, Arky, you have grown up all of a sudden. And… everything you said about your home, and your travelling partner. It made me think-
It made me think too, dear Ida. I think, one day soon, I need to go back to Fallford. I should try to make amends.
...Who are you, and what have you done with Arkadius?
Journal entry dated 7 Tarsahk, 1497 Yesterday was a good day. All things considered, I’m really glad things happened. I mean, I’m not really glad that Girelle was captured and tortured by the Vanguard, and that a demon was hired to impersonate him to lead us into a trap. And I’m not really glad that a few memories surfaced that I haven’t faced for a long while. It’s been a number of years, and I haven’t really thought about him in all this time. I feel so selfish. I made promises, and I failed to keep them. I failed, all but one. I’m still here, and I haven’t forgotten him. And I will see him again one day, when I finally fall. But I am glad that I reunited with Sheryl, and I’m really glad that we’re still friends, and she’s still here. I suppose I shouldn’t fill this journal with details about my previous escapades, it’s purpose isn’t really for me writing about how I made myself sad, it’s so that I remember what has actually happened recently. So, let’s actually talk about my day. The day started off fine. Woke up (...well, more accurately I climbed out of bed. Thanks to magical powers I don’t actually need to sleep), attended to breakfast, then attended to the horses. With the assistance of the staff, I loaded up the parcels onto the carriage (with Menace by my side, I don’t count him as a parcel, and set off for Daring Heights. Did the drop-off with Wendy as scheduled, and gave the driver a gold piece as a bonus. He drove quite well on the journey to the city, I shall have to remember that. Told him he’d be waiting around for a little while, so to enjoy his time in the city (but not to spend his bonus in the bars). He dropped us off at Portal Plaza, and Mace remarked at how comfortable the carriage journey was. This made me happy, but I was distracted by something in the distance. Sheryl. My good friend approached me immediately, hugging me tightly. I’d missed her, but I didn’t greet her with the utmost warm regards she deserved, it was more of an accusation of misdemeanours. I do heartily regret this, but I think it didn’t hurt our amazing friendship whatsoever. Me, Sheryl, Menace, Lillith and Varis were to head over to K’ul Goran for some more Vanguardy nonsense. Sergeant Grimes joined us at the very last minute too! I’d only met him once before, but as always I was happy to see hard-working people join us. We portalled across, were greeted as always and led to Girelle’s meeting chambers. A Kundarian Kobold dignitary had been captured by the Vanguard, and was being held. Was the rubbish story we were fed, I won’t bother retelling that, it was as garbage as anything. Girelle was out of sorts, and it didn’t take long before it was figured out, Varis showed himself as extremely capable by doing something, and told us something was wrong. I persuaded the Minotaur guards to give us the room, and Varis told us: Girelle was not Girelle, or Girelle was a fiend. Either way, something was very wrong. We heard fast footsteps outside, and we gave chase on one of the two Minotaur guards who decided to hightail it away to give us up. Not on our watch, thanks to fast magical efforts of our troupe he fell over laughing. One Zone of Truth combined with Detect Thoughts interrogation later, and we were able to confirm that the other guard (Alexa) was not Vanguard, and the one we caught was. We were also able to confirm that someone had been hired to impersonate Girelle to lead us into a trap, and garner as much knowledge as possible. The Vanguard are certainly taking a dislike to us Kantas adventurers meddling with their affairs. We proceeded to find the imposter in the room, to accost them and set them right. Sheryl did some amazingly charming stuff, and was able to defuse the situation easily, while getting them to be spectacularly chatty. It was a demon, a concubus. How curious. We (Sheryl) plumped them for as much information as possible, what were they doing, who summoned them, what did they know, etc. And at the end of it, Sheryl smiled at me and asked me to do my thing. I obliged, and said “Consider your employment contract… ended,” and cast a Banishing spell. The concubus seemed to react rather nicely, and went back to its home quickly and stayed there. I was quietly proud of myself. We proceeded to the original target location, a “wine cellar turned prison” under a house, where the Vanguard were holding their “kobold prisoner” (actually Girelle). We had to rescue him, after all the work he’d done and we’d done for him. We travelled through the rooms, through rooms seemingly laid out to confuse, delay and endanger us. There was a large room with two cages, each with an owlbear inside. Sheryl took care of the runes on one cage, while I messed up dealing with the other cage’s runes. We proceeded to stealthily hide behind the next door, listening to what Mace was getting up to pretending to be a Vanguard agent in there. I recognised the voice… BABIS BLOODY FARSTEP. I’d witnessed him performing summoning rituals before, of course it was him again. He suspected something, but instead of enacting his rather cunning trap, he threw a fireball at the door past Mace. I was, of course, fine. Not only did I dodge it, but… fire. Tiefling. Enough said. Battle ensued, and Varis chopped his head clean off. The Minotaurs in cages in the room were… adequately frightened of Varis, they didn’t pose any threat to us. We saved Girelle. Stuff is kicking off. And... I miss him, terribly. For the first time in a long time I thought about him, and our connection. And what happened. I need to make amends, I can’t lose someone else like that.
Journal entry dated 7 Tarsahk, 1497 Yesterday was a good day. All things considered, I’m really glad things happened. I mean, I’m not really glad that Girelle was captured and tortured by the Vanguard, and that a demon was hired to impersonate him to lead us into a trap. And I’m not really glad that a few memories surfaced that I haven’t faced for a long while. It’s been a number of years, and I haven’t really thought about him in all this time. I feel so selfish. I made promises, and I failed to keep them. I failed, all but one. I’m still here, and I haven’t forgotten him. And I will see him again one day, when I finally fall. But I am glad that I reunited with Sheryl, and I’m really glad that we’re still friends, and she’s still here. I suppose I shouldn’t fill this journal with details about my previous escapades, it’s purpose isn’t really for me writing about how I made myself sad, it’s so that I remember what has actually happened recently. So, let’s actually talk about my day. The day started off fine. Woke up (...well, more accurately I climbed out of bed. Thanks to magical powers I don’t actually need to sleep), attended to breakfast, then attended to the horses. With the assistance of the staff, I loaded up the parcels onto the carriage (with Menace by my side, I don’t count him as a parcel, and set off for Daring Heights. Did the drop-off with Wendy as scheduled, and gave the driver a gold piece as a bonus. He drove quite well on the journey to the city, I shall have to remember that. Told him he’d be waiting around for a little while, so to enjoy his time in the city (but not to spend his bonus in the bars). He dropped us off at Portal Plaza, and Mace remarked at how comfortable the carriage journey was. This made me happy, but I was distracted by something in the distance. Sheryl. My good friend approached me immediately, hugging me tightly. I’d missed her, but I didn’t greet her with the utmost warm regards she deserved, it was more of an accusation of misdemeanours. I do heartily regret this, but I think it didn’t hurt our amazing friendship whatsoever. Me, Sheryl, Menace, Lillith and Varis were to head over to K’ul Goran for some more Vanguardy nonsense. Sergeant Grimes joined us at the very last minute too! I’d only met him once before, but as always I was happy to see hard-working people join us. We portalled across, were greeted as always and led to Girelle’s meeting chambers. A Kundarian Kobold dignitary had been captured by the Vanguard, and was being held. Was the rubbish story we were fed, I won’t bother retelling that, it was as garbage as anything. Girelle was out of sorts, and it didn’t take long before it was figured out, Varis showed himself as extremely capable by doing something, and told us something was wrong. I persuaded the Minotaur guards to give us the room, and Varis told us: Girelle was not Girelle, or Girelle was a fiend. Either way, something was very wrong. We heard fast footsteps outside, and we gave chase on one of the two Minotaur guards who decided to hightail it away to give us up. Not on our watch, thanks to fast magical efforts of our troupe he fell over laughing. One Zone of Truth combined with Detect Thoughts interrogation later, and we were able to confirm that the other guard (Alexa) was not Vanguard, and the one we caught was. We were also able to confirm that someone had been hired to impersonate Girelle to lead us into a trap, and garner as much knowledge as possible. The Vanguard are certainly taking a dislike to us Kantas adventurers meddling with their affairs. We proceeded to find the imposter in the room, to accost them and set them right. Sheryl did some amazingly charming stuff, and was able to defuse the situation easily, while getting them to be spectacularly chatty. It was a demon, a concubus. How curious. We (Sheryl) plumped them for as much information as possible, what were they doing, who summoned them, what did they know, etc. And at the end of it, Sheryl smiled at me and asked me to do my thing. I obliged, and said “Consider your employment contract… ended,” and cast a Banishing spell. The concubus seemed to react rather nicely, and went back to its home quickly and stayed there. I was quietly proud of myself. We proceeded to the original target location, a “wine cellar turned prison” under a house, where the Vanguard were holding their “kobold prisoner” (actually Girelle). We had to rescue him, after all the work he’d done and we’d done for him. We travelled through the rooms, through rooms seemingly laid out to confuse, delay and endanger us. There was a large room with two cages, each with an owlbear inside. Sheryl took care of the runes on one cage, while I messed up dealing with the other cage’s runes. We proceeded to stealthily hide behind the next door, listening to what Mace was getting up to pretending to be a Vanguard agent in there. I recognised the voice… BABIS BLOODY FARSTEP. I’d witnessed him performing summoning rituals before, of course it was him again. He suspected something, but instead of enacting his rather cunning trap, he threw a fireball at the door past Mace. I was, of course, fine. Not only did I dodge it, but… fire. Tiefling. Enough said. Battle ensued, and Varis chopped his head clean off. The Minotaurs in cages in the room were… adequately frightened of Varis, they didn’t pose any threat to us. We saved Girelle. Stuff is kicking off. And... I miss him, terribly. For the first time in a long time I thought about him, and our connection. And what happened. I need to make amends, I can’t lose someone else like that.
The Sharp End
22nd of Ches, 1497
“I’m fine.”
Are you, though? Just last week you threw a bottle of ink at the wall, because you thought…
“Can we not discuss that again? That’s not one of the highlights of my time in Kantas. I’m really fine. I went to K’ul Goran, didn’t I?”
You did, but you never really explained what happened there. Come on, Arky, it’s been weeks since you let me join you on an adventure out of the city.
“...Okay, fine Ida. The next time I leave the city, you can come with me. I thought you enjoyed roaming the city more when I was-“
No, it’s really, really boring compared to some of the things you get up to. Now, let me get comfortable in your pocket, and then as you’re flying you can tell me about K’ul Goran.
Oh, no. Last time I got distracted while I was in the air, I nearly plummeted into a roof.
You said that was because you remembered pain from your past, and felt it like it was real.
So, K’ul Goran. We portalled there from Daring Heights, as normal. Girelle himself met us on the other end, which was… very out of the ordinary. Usually we have some kind of assistant, a sergeant or something. Anyway, I digress. We were led by Girelle to his private chambers, and told what our mission was to be. We were to escort him to a meeting with the Mayor of Jarvenol. I’m not one for formal occasions, but hey… sometimes I can look intimidating. We were to set off immediately, and arrive late in the evening. We did so, and arrived at some diplomatic style buildings. Most, actually all but one were destroyed in the war. That is a shame. I never got to see K’ul Goran properly, my first experience of it myself was that war. And I spent most of it in Sheryl’s… Yes. You did. Moving on. The next morning, we all attended the meeting. Girelle was trying to sell Aurelia’s magical abilities to Jarvenol, to allow them to summon and make permanent a great fortress. She high-balled the cost, starting the negotiations at a very remarkable price (I will never see that amount of gold, let me say that much), and everyone else around me (Matthew, Laurel, Mace, Bones and Wren) all looked intimidating enough. I was… distracted by something, and missed the beat. Didn’t seem to harm the negotiations too much though, the Mayor made excuses and left, and Girelle as we were leaving seemed confident. He then dispatched us on our TRUE mission, which was to investigate some of the ruins. Ah. I knew it sounded too boring to be a proper mission. We had been advised that robed and hooded figures were investigating and skulking around some of the ruins unleashed and revealed by the war. Perhaps at least one red mask had also been spotted. So, only natural… That you would all be summoned. Super Vanguard hunting squadron that you are. Yeah, no… Later that night, we snuck around the city, criss-crossing different streets to cover as much land as we would, to try and find where they were searching that night. Indeed eventually we did find them, and we cautiously approached. Laurel became some… animal, and snuck in as close as possible, trying to overhear what was going on. Mace asked for advice on what one of the masks looked like, and I described to the best of my ability. He conjured up a disguise for himself, and went in talking to the guy who was left. Inside the property was some kind of… hole downwards? You don’t seem to be remembering this very clearly. No, it was around this point where… I think I started missing Sheryl again, and I was hit a bit with… cloudy mind. The next thing I really remember is us being in this big room, a guy running away, and me unleashing a few Scorching Rays in anger. The rest is… a bit of a blur. And this is exactly why I need to join you on adventures. You’re incapable of remembering things and explaining them to me afterwards.
So, K’ul Goran. We portalled there from Daring Heights, as normal. Girelle himself met us on the other end, which was… very out of the ordinary. Usually we have some kind of assistant, a sergeant or something. Anyway, I digress. We were led by Girelle to his private chambers, and told what our mission was to be. We were to escort him to a meeting with the Mayor of Jarvenol. I’m not one for formal occasions, but hey… sometimes I can look intimidating. We were to set off immediately, and arrive late in the evening. We did so, and arrived at some diplomatic style buildings. Most, actually all but one were destroyed in the war. That is a shame. I never got to see K’ul Goran properly, my first experience of it myself was that war. And I spent most of it in Sheryl’s… Yes. You did. Moving on. The next morning, we all attended the meeting. Girelle was trying to sell Aurelia’s magical abilities to Jarvenol, to allow them to summon and make permanent a great fortress. She high-balled the cost, starting the negotiations at a very remarkable price (I will never see that amount of gold, let me say that much), and everyone else around me (Matthew, Laurel, Mace, Bones and Wren) all looked intimidating enough. I was… distracted by something, and missed the beat. Didn’t seem to harm the negotiations too much though, the Mayor made excuses and left, and Girelle as we were leaving seemed confident. He then dispatched us on our TRUE mission, which was to investigate some of the ruins. Ah. I knew it sounded too boring to be a proper mission. We had been advised that robed and hooded figures were investigating and skulking around some of the ruins unleashed and revealed by the war. Perhaps at least one red mask had also been spotted. So, only natural… That you would all be summoned. Super Vanguard hunting squadron that you are. Yeah, no… Later that night, we snuck around the city, criss-crossing different streets to cover as much land as we would, to try and find where they were searching that night. Indeed eventually we did find them, and we cautiously approached. Laurel became some… animal, and snuck in as close as possible, trying to overhear what was going on. Mace asked for advice on what one of the masks looked like, and I described to the best of my ability. He conjured up a disguise for himself, and went in talking to the guy who was left. Inside the property was some kind of… hole downwards? You don’t seem to be remembering this very clearly. No, it was around this point where… I think I started missing Sheryl again, and I was hit a bit with… cloudy mind. The next thing I really remember is us being in this big room, a guy running away, and me unleashing a few Scorching Rays in anger. The rest is… a bit of a blur. And this is exactly why I need to join you on adventures. You’re incapable of remembering things and explaining them to me afterwards.
Here and Back Again
15th of Ches, 1497
His eyes flicked open, the ceiling above him misted with brain-fog, but still very recognisable. Arkadius was laying down, on his bed not under the covers. He blinked a few times, clearing the mist in his brain, which reawoke with a startle. Within seconds, he was on his feet and standing behind his office desk, snarling to himself.
Arkadius. Talk to me. Please.
“Ida, can you not see I am in no mood to talk?” he responded, ending his statement by punching the desk with a clasped hand on the desk. This startled Ida, who had not seen him this distraught and angry. She, in her cat form, stood standing in the corner of the room, hiding away. I can see that, I am only trying to help.
“I appreciate that, but… ‘A word once given, cannot be broken’, that's the words she used. The. Exact. Words. That Sheryl said. But why should she be allowed to keep her word, while I am sent away unable to keep to mine, huh? How is that fair!”, another angry fist hitting the desk. Arkadius wasn't just angry with the world at this point, but he was also visibly upset. Tears had started to make their way down his cheeks. It was with this he grabbed a bottle of ink from the desk, and threw it at the wall.
Tell me everything. Walk me through what's making you feel this way, and what happened yesterday, perhaps I can offer some…
“Insight? Wisdom? Psh, please. You don't even know the half of it. And nor does Swan. This was all between me, Sheryl and Matthew.”
What was?
Arkadius started replying mentally back to Ida, his throat caught with the emotion, The promise. Sheryl had explained to us that one day she would return home. Understandably, neither me nor Matthew appreciated this all that much, so we foolishly promised that no matter what came between us whether it be Hell or Deity, that we would fight through any obstacle to bring her back. Thinking back to it, sure I acknowledge that it is entirely her own decision. But I… We made that promise with the best of intentions. We cared.
And? What's changed?
I… I failed. I failed her, I failed him and I failed myself. I failed.
Have you? Have you failed them? Tell me what happened yesterday. Maybe, I don't know, maybe it'll help you see you didn't fail after all.
I did my drop-off to Wendy as normal, and then made my way to the meeting point. We'd agreed where and when before. There was me, Sheryl of course, Wil, Mace, and BB. And I assume that they'd met this G’Lorth frog person before, his Royal Highness wannabe. Be nice, Arkadius. This isn't like you. Sheryl thanked us for being there, introduced us all, and explained she had already made arrangements with Aurelia, for the journey we were about to make. We were planeshifted to the Feywild, all of us plus Aurelia, apparently when you planeshift people, you… have to go with them. We all appeared nice and safe within the Feywild. ...Why do I not believe you? We were safe! ...Well, we didn’t believe we were at the time, we believed we were plummeting out of the sky towards the ground. BB polymorphed herself and Aurelia into giant eagles, and I was skillful enough to glide down and manage my speed using my wings. Only… something didn’t feel right. I could hear giggling, but I couldn’t quite work out what it was. It took Wil to get a bit angry and grow some claws for whoever was casting the illusion to drop it and the wind that was blowing underneath us. Interesting. Wil with claws. That must have been something to behold. It was. It was very impressive. And I think we were all a little unnerved. Aurelia said something along the lines of “And this is why I bid you farewell”, then vanished. I was a little annoyed, but hey ho. We took a look around and spotted quite a few faeries around us, sitting on tree branches and the like. Some were intimidated by Wil, and some were Sat there mockingly “Ooh”ing at us. What a capricious bunch. They are well known for, after all, their unpredictability, the Fey. We started bickering amongst ourselves, something (likely Wil) someone said about the air triggered it all, I probably mentioned the plane of fire or air, and the faeries around us joined in. Some sort of informal vote ensued, which led to the majority of the faeries backing me. You're persuasive. You stick to your guns. People like that about you. There wasn't any persuading, Ida. Not really. But alas, it was a game for them like everything is. Which prompted G’Lorth the “oh so Magnificent”... Arkadius. ...to “volunteer” us for another. Don't interrupt me, please. All of the faeries started shouting something about “Sardines”. Now, we assumed it was Wil. He likes to spend his time underwater after all, and then we started bickering again. This… Happens a lot. Yes, it does. I've seen. While we are… Distracted, the faeries all ran or flew off to a nearby river, still shouting about Sardines. When they reached the river, they all mounted up on… Actual Sardines. And jousted. Sheryl spotted our destination out in the distance, and started walking in that way, somewhat entranced. She asked us to follow, so we did. A little while away, time is… Fluid there, difficult to measure time and distance, we started approaching a huge field of sunflowers. They were massive, they must have been about ten or twelve feet tall. BB of course was immediately under their spell, and rushed off ahead. Sheryl, ever being the smart one, took chase, as did Wil and Mace. Me and G’Lorth were a bit slower at approaching, and spotted the two figures stood facing each other just outside of the field before the others. What were the figures doing? They can’t just be stood there, I assume they are fey. Yeah, they weren’t. When we got closer, we realised they were playing this ridiculous game where they would slap each other’s hands, and then slap each other across the face. It was… weird. Anyway, we got to them, and they both offered to take us a different route, around the sunflower field. Apparently they are deadly (surprise, surprise), and of course BB wanted one. She was emphatically told “no” by everyone. This felt bad, I didn’t want to have to say no, but eh. G’Lorth took the opportunity to take control of the situation, and the conversation. Both Glory and Glorious offered us different paths, scenic or through the battlefield. Both outbid each other for a few moments, before Glory came out on top, offering gold and boots. Glorious was a little disappointed by this choice, breaking down onto the floor. BB offered her a daffodil to console them, however their response was “So mundane”. I felt bad for BB. Somebody said something, triggering Wil to ask the question, “What’s Pasta?”, to which Glory responded rather quickly “Everything that’s happened up to now”. The wit on that fellow, very amusing and very inspirational. If I ever head back to the Feywild, I hope to be able to catch up to them again. Okay, so Glory took you through a battlefield. What was it? We were told that it was used regularly, by various people. We were told that some people used it a while ago to just stare at each other for three days. That sounds ridiculous. But also, given the context, utterly believable. Sure. I’m not sure I do believe that, but whatever. Glory led us to a clearing within some trees, somewhat perfectly circular. Impressive. Wel, I was impressed until Glory turned to us and said “ah-ha!”, drawing a weapon. We were nonplussed, staring at him, causing him to say “I… said ‘ah-ha’!”. We still didn’t respond as he’d liked, but a figure stepped out from behind us. Someone who knew Sheryl for who she was, apparently, calling her “Merla”. This didn’t sit right with me, but it was only natural that perhaps Sheryl might choose to hide behind a facade away from her home. We all do, in one way or another. That must have been quite a shock, but it sounds like you’ve adapted well. We were at her home, not ours, so… I wasn’t going to complain. But this other being offered to use our name for her, which… slightly annoyed me more. I know he meant no disrespect, but Sheryl was our facade, not his. Anyway. The Satyr offers to lead us to where we were headed, and shortly afterwards some deer darted past us. He was this was some kind of hunt, and we should participate. The faeries all mounted up, however I pointed out that perhaps a slightly… larger beast would be required. They denied this, and I snorted. Shortly before becoming 1 foot tall. STOP LAUGHING. That is hilarious, I am sorry. Surely you have to see the funny side of that? Anyway. We participate in the hunt, and do rather well as a team. We get three deer, which apparently will be used at the feast. Yay. We get to the feast, and we’re allowed to roam. My first thought is ‘where’s the booze’, before Wil interrupts me to exclaim “I’m off to go find a drink”. I immediately smile, and reply with a “Booze time!”, just as Sheryl asks someone to join him to look after him. I coughed to cover my previous statement, and say I will look after him. No doubt Sheryl knew what a mistake that was, but she didn’t stop me. Both me and Wil explore for a little while, before we are offered a tankard each. We both drink, and really really enjoy it. Then wonder how we get more, just as our tankards refill themselves. The real last thing I remember is approaching a circle of fey, with Queen Titania at the head, leaning on the tree. I remember Sheryl being pushed into the circle, and I remember her making this grand speech. I remember we did some weird special effects with all of our abilities, and then… I woke up here. I barely remember anything of the feast, but what I do know, deep down, is that Sheryl isn’t here anymore. She stayed there, in the Feywild.
Well… it seems like you all had a fun time. So, uhh… Now that you’re feeling a little better, I think you should take a look at the desk. Right in front of you… I’m surprised you haven’t seen it already. Arkadius raised an eyebrow, looking down at his desk. An inch away from the space where his clenched hand had hit the desk several times was an envelope, bearing the handwriting of Sheryl, the Fae-Touched.
Arkadius was sat down at his desk now, holding the envelope in one hand and wiping the tears from his eyes, now flowing harder, with the other. If you had told me this was here ten minutes ago, I wouldn’t have wasted a perfectly good bottle of ink, he replied, the sarcasm evident in his words. Is that all you can think about, a worthless bottle of ink? Arkadius sighed, “Obviously I am making light of the situation, Ida. I thought that would have been obvious.”
I did my drop-off to Wendy as normal, and then made my way to the meeting point. We'd agreed where and when before. There was me, Sheryl of course, Wil, Mace, and BB. And I assume that they'd met this G’Lorth frog person before, his Royal Highness wannabe. Be nice, Arkadius. This isn't like you. Sheryl thanked us for being there, introduced us all, and explained she had already made arrangements with Aurelia, for the journey we were about to make. We were planeshifted to the Feywild, all of us plus Aurelia, apparently when you planeshift people, you… have to go with them. We all appeared nice and safe within the Feywild. ...Why do I not believe you? We were safe! ...Well, we didn’t believe we were at the time, we believed we were plummeting out of the sky towards the ground. BB polymorphed herself and Aurelia into giant eagles, and I was skillful enough to glide down and manage my speed using my wings. Only… something didn’t feel right. I could hear giggling, but I couldn’t quite work out what it was. It took Wil to get a bit angry and grow some claws for whoever was casting the illusion to drop it and the wind that was blowing underneath us. Interesting. Wil with claws. That must have been something to behold. It was. It was very impressive. And I think we were all a little unnerved. Aurelia said something along the lines of “And this is why I bid you farewell”, then vanished. I was a little annoyed, but hey ho. We took a look around and spotted quite a few faeries around us, sitting on tree branches and the like. Some were intimidated by Wil, and some were Sat there mockingly “Ooh”ing at us. What a capricious bunch. They are well known for, after all, their unpredictability, the Fey. We started bickering amongst ourselves, something (likely Wil) someone said about the air triggered it all, I probably mentioned the plane of fire or air, and the faeries around us joined in. Some sort of informal vote ensued, which led to the majority of the faeries backing me. You're persuasive. You stick to your guns. People like that about you. There wasn't any persuading, Ida. Not really. But alas, it was a game for them like everything is. Which prompted G’Lorth the “oh so Magnificent”... Arkadius. ...to “volunteer” us for another. Don't interrupt me, please. All of the faeries started shouting something about “Sardines”. Now, we assumed it was Wil. He likes to spend his time underwater after all, and then we started bickering again. This… Happens a lot. Yes, it does. I've seen. While we are… Distracted, the faeries all ran or flew off to a nearby river, still shouting about Sardines. When they reached the river, they all mounted up on… Actual Sardines. And jousted. Sheryl spotted our destination out in the distance, and started walking in that way, somewhat entranced. She asked us to follow, so we did. A little while away, time is… Fluid there, difficult to measure time and distance, we started approaching a huge field of sunflowers. They were massive, they must have been about ten or twelve feet tall. BB of course was immediately under their spell, and rushed off ahead. Sheryl, ever being the smart one, took chase, as did Wil and Mace. Me and G’Lorth were a bit slower at approaching, and spotted the two figures stood facing each other just outside of the field before the others. What were the figures doing? They can’t just be stood there, I assume they are fey. Yeah, they weren’t. When we got closer, we realised they were playing this ridiculous game where they would slap each other’s hands, and then slap each other across the face. It was… weird. Anyway, we got to them, and they both offered to take us a different route, around the sunflower field. Apparently they are deadly (surprise, surprise), and of course BB wanted one. She was emphatically told “no” by everyone. This felt bad, I didn’t want to have to say no, but eh. G’Lorth took the opportunity to take control of the situation, and the conversation. Both Glory and Glorious offered us different paths, scenic or through the battlefield. Both outbid each other for a few moments, before Glory came out on top, offering gold and boots. Glorious was a little disappointed by this choice, breaking down onto the floor. BB offered her a daffodil to console them, however their response was “So mundane”. I felt bad for BB. Somebody said something, triggering Wil to ask the question, “What’s Pasta?”, to which Glory responded rather quickly “Everything that’s happened up to now”. The wit on that fellow, very amusing and very inspirational. If I ever head back to the Feywild, I hope to be able to catch up to them again. Okay, so Glory took you through a battlefield. What was it? We were told that it was used regularly, by various people. We were told that some people used it a while ago to just stare at each other for three days. That sounds ridiculous. But also, given the context, utterly believable. Sure. I’m not sure I do believe that, but whatever. Glory led us to a clearing within some trees, somewhat perfectly circular. Impressive. Wel, I was impressed until Glory turned to us and said “ah-ha!”, drawing a weapon. We were nonplussed, staring at him, causing him to say “I… said ‘ah-ha’!”. We still didn’t respond as he’d liked, but a figure stepped out from behind us. Someone who knew Sheryl for who she was, apparently, calling her “Merla”. This didn’t sit right with me, but it was only natural that perhaps Sheryl might choose to hide behind a facade away from her home. We all do, in one way or another. That must have been quite a shock, but it sounds like you’ve adapted well. We were at her home, not ours, so… I wasn’t going to complain. But this other being offered to use our name for her, which… slightly annoyed me more. I know he meant no disrespect, but Sheryl was our facade, not his. Anyway. The Satyr offers to lead us to where we were headed, and shortly afterwards some deer darted past us. He was this was some kind of hunt, and we should participate. The faeries all mounted up, however I pointed out that perhaps a slightly… larger beast would be required. They denied this, and I snorted. Shortly before becoming 1 foot tall. STOP LAUGHING. That is hilarious, I am sorry. Surely you have to see the funny side of that? Anyway. We participate in the hunt, and do rather well as a team. We get three deer, which apparently will be used at the feast. Yay. We get to the feast, and we’re allowed to roam. My first thought is ‘where’s the booze’, before Wil interrupts me to exclaim “I’m off to go find a drink”. I immediately smile, and reply with a “Booze time!”, just as Sheryl asks someone to join him to look after him. I coughed to cover my previous statement, and say I will look after him. No doubt Sheryl knew what a mistake that was, but she didn’t stop me. Both me and Wil explore for a little while, before we are offered a tankard each. We both drink, and really really enjoy it. Then wonder how we get more, just as our tankards refill themselves. The real last thing I remember is approaching a circle of fey, with Queen Titania at the head, leaning on the tree. I remember Sheryl being pushed into the circle, and I remember her making this grand speech. I remember we did some weird special effects with all of our abilities, and then… I woke up here. I barely remember anything of the feast, but what I do know, deep down, is that Sheryl isn’t here anymore. She stayed there, in the Feywild.
Well… it seems like you all had a fun time. So, uhh… Now that you’re feeling a little better, I think you should take a look at the desk. Right in front of you… I’m surprised you haven’t seen it already. Arkadius raised an eyebrow, looking down at his desk. An inch away from the space where his clenched hand had hit the desk several times was an envelope, bearing the handwriting of Sheryl, the Fae-Touched.
Arkadius was sat down at his desk now, holding the envelope in one hand and wiping the tears from his eyes, now flowing harder, with the other. If you had told me this was here ten minutes ago, I wouldn’t have wasted a perfectly good bottle of ink, he replied, the sarcasm evident in his words. Is that all you can think about, a worthless bottle of ink? Arkadius sighed, “Obviously I am making light of the situation, Ida. I thought that would have been obvious.”
Doing the Right Thing
14th of Ches, 1497
”It’s alright to be prepared,” Arkadius muttered to himself, closing the door of Ffirst Airmail behind him. ”It’s natural to be prepared, it’s the right thing to do. It’s also necessary, given everything going on. It isn’t my time, not yet.”
I’m not saying you shouldn’t be prepared, Arkadius. I’m just saying… a hidden chest containing a will and enough gold for a resurrection. That’s just a little bit, I don’t know… morbid? Think of what the poor thing will feel when she comes to open that. Ida, like always, was sat in Arkadius' coat-pocket, warm and comfortable.
”I have friends that rely on me. The people of Port Ffirst have begun to rely on me, my employees, my company. The people of K’ul Goran… well, we do what we can for them, but sometimes things may not always go entirely to plan. And I have plans that I haven’t achieved yet. I’d like to try and finish what I’ve started, and achieve much more. I’m not done yet.”
Arkadius took off, flying high above the city towards the docks, wings flapping slowly and methodically. He had a face of determination, his eye out looking for something in specific over the docks and in the water, but on a quick passover didn’t spot it and flew onwards all the while saying nothing and remaining silently. He passed over a few other places in Port Ffirst before returning to the Ffirst Airmail office, settling down at his desk. He shuffled a few papers around between drawers, but didn't write anything. It was obvious he was preoccupied, wrapped up in his own thoughts.
”I think I’m doing the right thing. I have done the right thing, for as long as I can remember.
It’s up to me how I prepare for my future, and I’ve taken the precautions that I think are right. That’s up to me, and if others want to complain, then… That's for them to decide, really. I am looking out for me, and the others around me by looking out for myself. Hopefully my close associates will realise that, and in time maybe Kassandra and the Errant Guard will see that I mean well too.”
Hunting for Trouble
25th of Alturiak, 1497
So… that Errant Guard woman, Kassandra. Is that her name? She didn’t seem to like you. At all. That felt… awkward. It wasn’t even you that killed Torval, or your friends. And even then, he was Vanguard and attacked us first!
Arkadius snorts, resting back in his office chair, nodding. “She didn’t take to me returning so soon, no. I am thinking that I should avoid K’ul Goran for the time being. I might… make things worse if I go back. And I don’t think the Errant Guard will take me either now, however much I dreamt of serving with them.”
Are you still trying to atone for being a Tiefling? For having Infernal in your bloodline? You’re a good man, Arkadius. Really. Listen to people when they say so. Listen to what Markas said the other day. Listen to Sheryl, and Mathew and all your other friends who care. They’ve seen you do good things, you’ve proven you aren't a bad person. Mostly.
Don’t let this eat you up from inside.
Journal entry dated 25 Alturiak, 1497 Things happen for a reason, I believe that now more than ever. Everything that has happened recently just goes to reinforce that belief. The warning from Khaosborn, the Vanguard, everything that happened to Rama in K’ul Goran. Everything leads to something. Nothing happens for no reason. There’s no smoke without fire. That leads me on to the events of yesterday. We were summoned by the Errant Guard, as they have become adept at doing, to K’ul Goran. They advised us that they had some kind of large monster causing some trouble in the southern regions. Given recent events, and given that I am rather fond of the Errant Guard, I could not refuse to assist K’ul Goran. During the preparation for the War with the Giants, I was skeptical of the continent, and didn’t really want to risk my life. Now I feel myself growing more attached to the continent, especially with its close connection to the Aerial Plane. Perhaps in time I will move there. Perhaps not. I did my usual jaunt from Port Ffirst to Daring Heights, fluttering along above the path, sack of letters safely hoisted onto my back, and delivered that to Wendy on arrival. I then proceeded to head straight over to the portalling chambers, where I was greeted by Lillith, BB and Laurel. I was also greeted by a few new faces I’d not seen before, Ziarae (a wonderfully brave aasimar), and Sergeant Grimes. There’s a name I had definitely heard around Port Ffirst. What a pleasure to finally put a face to the name. We portalled across to K’ul Goran, greeted thankfully by a minotaur Captain on the other side (last time, we did not have an escort from the portalling chambers, and that was not pleasant). He led us to a briefing room, where Kassandra was waiting for us as well as an Errant Guard bard called Cory, whom I had not met previously. Kassandra seemed to be a lot less jovial than she normally was, and for a brief moment I detected even a trace of… hatred, specifically towards me. I was confused at this, thinking back to all of my encounters in K’ul Goran, and nothing really hit me as being out of the ordinary. We were briefed about the monster, rampaging amongst the southern region of K’ul Goran, and it seemed like a simple enough mission. Find the beast, and take it down. What concerned me was how the description was very owlbearish, while not being as owlbearish as we would have liked. They don’t have the ability to teleport, last time I checked anyway. We were advised that Girelle wanted to see us before we left, to whom the Captain led us when we were dismissed from the briefing room. Girelle took the time to introduce himself to those who he had not met before, and greet those whom he did recognise, including myself. He assured me that the Aerial Plane had recovered nicely since our recovery mission several weeks ago. He also took the time to ensure we were all suitably informed about the recent efforts of the Vanguard to sow discord in the city. He wanted to ensure all Kantas adventurers operating within K’ul Goran were aware of the latest threats. This, I thought, was very sensible. It led to nothing on this particular mission, as far as I am aware, however a good idea nonetheless. We were taken to our transportation set to take us south, a road-cart outfitted for the particular benefits of the nation at hand, wind-powered like always. I had the misfortune of sitting rather close to Kassandra, and was mulling reasons as to why she may dislike me under my breath. I wasn’t quiet enough, apparently, as when our approach to Nrav’Garat was announced and I mulled as to whether my war-based antics here were the reason she disliked me suddenly, she responded with a resounding “Ah, you were involved with the war here? I was not aware of this. No.” Perhaps I need to be more subtle in future. We surmise that the beast has made a lair somewhere in the forest nearby, and proceed to enter. We took the time to explore the forest, looking for tracks and potential leads to find the lair. I’ll be honest, we were all a little… unprepared for this, only Kassandra seemed to be prepared for this and led us down a path, following some tracks. Cory quickly caught us before we followed, asking if any of us were present for Torval’s death. This, of course, caused memories to flood into my brain in a panic as Cory explained after I was the only one to respond positively that Torval and Kassandra had been close friends. That was the end of that matter. I resolved to give Kassandra as much space as she needed, an argument between us about how much of a Vanguard traitor he was probably would result in my own death. We followed the tracks to a cave, which we correctly assume to be this beast’s lair. Lillith was prepared to send her familiar in, a spider, and Wren was also willing to go in too. Wren took the spider in, and explored as far as she was comfortable doing, sending the spider in unnoticed beyond that point. She reports back that in the three connecting tunnels, there was a quiet chamber to the left (which we left unexplored), a chamber to the right with some weird rifts in, and a group of Shunned preparing what we assume to be some kind of ritual ahead. We took the decision to announce slowly, making the Shunned aware of who we were and why we were there, and that we meant them no harm. Long story short, somehow Lillith made them believe she was some kind of Prophet. I can’t see this going wrong at all in the future. Our conversations were cut short by Kassandra running in, announcing that the beast had returned. We retreated to tactical positions throughout the cave, myself and Kassandra on the back wall for best ranged attacking. On the beast’s arrival into the cave door, Lillith cast some fancy magic trying to prevent it from further movement and causing damage. Which would have been very tactically sound, if it stayed that way. It teleported, appearing next to Sgt. Grimes. Unfortunate. We noted that the rifts which were in the side cavern were now closely following the owlbear-thing. Which very much was not one, but several mixed in together through some hellish magic or weirdness. Fighting ensured, the beast cast darkness upon itself, and I risked flinging in a Fireball. Thankfully, I did catch the owlbear-thing, as well as a few of the Shunned. Oops. After a while, we manage to take down the owlbear-thing, and eradicate the rifts. The team did awesome work. The team proceeded to attempt to assist the Shunned who were taken down by my accidental “friendly fire”. Kassandra did not take kindly to this, and took a lot of convincing to allow us to continue. She stormed off. All in all, another successful operation in K’ul Goran. Another embarrassment for me.
Journal entry dated 25 Alturiak, 1497 Things happen for a reason, I believe that now more than ever. Everything that has happened recently just goes to reinforce that belief. The warning from Khaosborn, the Vanguard, everything that happened to Rama in K’ul Goran. Everything leads to something. Nothing happens for no reason. There’s no smoke without fire. That leads me on to the events of yesterday. We were summoned by the Errant Guard, as they have become adept at doing, to K’ul Goran. They advised us that they had some kind of large monster causing some trouble in the southern regions. Given recent events, and given that I am rather fond of the Errant Guard, I could not refuse to assist K’ul Goran. During the preparation for the War with the Giants, I was skeptical of the continent, and didn’t really want to risk my life. Now I feel myself growing more attached to the continent, especially with its close connection to the Aerial Plane. Perhaps in time I will move there. Perhaps not. I did my usual jaunt from Port Ffirst to Daring Heights, fluttering along above the path, sack of letters safely hoisted onto my back, and delivered that to Wendy on arrival. I then proceeded to head straight over to the portalling chambers, where I was greeted by Lillith, BB and Laurel. I was also greeted by a few new faces I’d not seen before, Ziarae (a wonderfully brave aasimar), and Sergeant Grimes. There’s a name I had definitely heard around Port Ffirst. What a pleasure to finally put a face to the name. We portalled across to K’ul Goran, greeted thankfully by a minotaur Captain on the other side (last time, we did not have an escort from the portalling chambers, and that was not pleasant). He led us to a briefing room, where Kassandra was waiting for us as well as an Errant Guard bard called Cory, whom I had not met previously. Kassandra seemed to be a lot less jovial than she normally was, and for a brief moment I detected even a trace of… hatred, specifically towards me. I was confused at this, thinking back to all of my encounters in K’ul Goran, and nothing really hit me as being out of the ordinary. We were briefed about the monster, rampaging amongst the southern region of K’ul Goran, and it seemed like a simple enough mission. Find the beast, and take it down. What concerned me was how the description was very owlbearish, while not being as owlbearish as we would have liked. They don’t have the ability to teleport, last time I checked anyway. We were advised that Girelle wanted to see us before we left, to whom the Captain led us when we were dismissed from the briefing room. Girelle took the time to introduce himself to those who he had not met before, and greet those whom he did recognise, including myself. He assured me that the Aerial Plane had recovered nicely since our recovery mission several weeks ago. He also took the time to ensure we were all suitably informed about the recent efforts of the Vanguard to sow discord in the city. He wanted to ensure all Kantas adventurers operating within K’ul Goran were aware of the latest threats. This, I thought, was very sensible. It led to nothing on this particular mission, as far as I am aware, however a good idea nonetheless. We were taken to our transportation set to take us south, a road-cart outfitted for the particular benefits of the nation at hand, wind-powered like always. I had the misfortune of sitting rather close to Kassandra, and was mulling reasons as to why she may dislike me under my breath. I wasn’t quiet enough, apparently, as when our approach to Nrav’Garat was announced and I mulled as to whether my war-based antics here were the reason she disliked me suddenly, she responded with a resounding “Ah, you were involved with the war here? I was not aware of this. No.” Perhaps I need to be more subtle in future. We surmise that the beast has made a lair somewhere in the forest nearby, and proceed to enter. We took the time to explore the forest, looking for tracks and potential leads to find the lair. I’ll be honest, we were all a little… unprepared for this, only Kassandra seemed to be prepared for this and led us down a path, following some tracks. Cory quickly caught us before we followed, asking if any of us were present for Torval’s death. This, of course, caused memories to flood into my brain in a panic as Cory explained after I was the only one to respond positively that Torval and Kassandra had been close friends. That was the end of that matter. I resolved to give Kassandra as much space as she needed, an argument between us about how much of a Vanguard traitor he was probably would result in my own death. We followed the tracks to a cave, which we correctly assume to be this beast’s lair. Lillith was prepared to send her familiar in, a spider, and Wren was also willing to go in too. Wren took the spider in, and explored as far as she was comfortable doing, sending the spider in unnoticed beyond that point. She reports back that in the three connecting tunnels, there was a quiet chamber to the left (which we left unexplored), a chamber to the right with some weird rifts in, and a group of Shunned preparing what we assume to be some kind of ritual ahead. We took the decision to announce slowly, making the Shunned aware of who we were and why we were there, and that we meant them no harm. Long story short, somehow Lillith made them believe she was some kind of Prophet. I can’t see this going wrong at all in the future. Our conversations were cut short by Kassandra running in, announcing that the beast had returned. We retreated to tactical positions throughout the cave, myself and Kassandra on the back wall for best ranged attacking. On the beast’s arrival into the cave door, Lillith cast some fancy magic trying to prevent it from further movement and causing damage. Which would have been very tactically sound, if it stayed that way. It teleported, appearing next to Sgt. Grimes. Unfortunate. We noted that the rifts which were in the side cavern were now closely following the owlbear-thing. Which very much was not one, but several mixed in together through some hellish magic or weirdness. Fighting ensured, the beast cast darkness upon itself, and I risked flinging in a Fireball. Thankfully, I did catch the owlbear-thing, as well as a few of the Shunned. Oops. After a while, we manage to take down the owlbear-thing, and eradicate the rifts. The team did awesome work. The team proceeded to attempt to assist the Shunned who were taken down by my accidental “friendly fire”. Kassandra did not take kindly to this, and took a lot of convincing to allow us to continue. She stormed off. All in all, another successful operation in K’ul Goran. Another embarrassment for me.
What's in a Name?
10th of Alturiak, 1497
Arkadius has, by all possible definitions of the word, never considered himself special. He grew up in an idyllic, peaceful town. He left said town for adventure, under the tutelage and guidance of Jornos. And inevitably, thought Arkadius, much like everyone else in his life Jornos left him to his own devices, to his own destiny. But he wasn’t bitter, not angry, not sad or remorseful. He had come to expect it. Besides, he had other things on his mind.
“Am I a good person?” he asked his office absent-mindedly from where he was sitting at his desk, knowing Ida was shuffling around somewhere in the room. The suddenness of the question after a long period of silence from Arkadius surprised her. Why do you ask, Arkadius? came her response, through their mental link as always.
“You saw it yourself, heard it yourself, when we were in K’ul Goran. We found out more about the Vanguard, they have an Infernal heritage and background, I have an Infernal heritage and background, I…”, he faltered for a moment. “When I was a kid, I was bullied and belittled purely because of who I am. I can’t help what I was born as, I didn’t ask to be a tiefling. I presume, anyway.
“I sat alone and had no friends because everyone was taught that the red family in the corner of the town were pure evil. They only gave my dad the job in the blacksmithy because he could withstand the fire and the heat in there better than anyone else could.
“You’ve been around long enough to see what’s been going on lately. The war in K’ul Goran, the stuff in the Plane of Air, whatever we let loose. I think I just need reassurance that I am doing the right thing in life, and that…”
I think you’re a good person, came her simple, interrupting response, and surely my opinion counts for something.
Journal entry dated 11th of Alturiak, 1497 I think, to avoid the awkwardness of writing letters (that I still have no idea that She actually witnesses or not) and to improve on my own recollection of events as I continue my adventures in Kantas, I shall try keeping a journal instead. If indeed Swan does receive my letters and wants to complain about this then She is more than entitled to make Her appearance here to me at Kantas and make Her opinion actually known. I’ll more than happily follow Her guidance, if She makes it clear and known. Right now, I still do not understand why I was invited to be Her follower. Yesterday, I was working and doing my usual trek up to Daring Heights to deliver the mail on behalf of Ffirst Airmail and do the drop to Wendy, when she surprised me with a letter of my own, addressed to me. I thought it weird, I don’t usually receive mail, so I thanked her, made my leave and went to leave Daring Heights back to Port Ffirst as usual. As I reached the city gates, I opened the letter and this changed my plans for the day. I flew upwards, into the sky above the city, looking down trying to find a hint of where my target might be. I didn’t spot Rama, but I did spot Sheryl walking through the streets, so flew down to meet her. She’d received one of the letters too and wasn’t sure where Rama lived either, but was able to ping him via Sending. (Side note: I still find it amusing that spellcasters can’t mentally count the number of words they say, I haven’t met a single spellcaster who doesn’t count on their fingers as they speak! It’s so funny.) This led us in the right direction. As we approached however, we saw that the front door was… no longer attached. Given that we’d received letters saying Rama needed help, this made us immediately suspicious. Sheryl lept straight in, and I hung back for a few moments, having a clear line-of-sight of the danger from outside. I threw in a firebolt as the hooded, cloaked huge figure attacked. Greebo and Bones arrived after a very short, tense few moments to contribute too. Rama attacked the figure, and threw him at the wall. Unfortunately, this restricted my line of sight, so I had to move into the house, it was tactically the best thing to do. The combined efforts of all five of us (Rama, myself, Sheryl, Bones and Greebo) was enough to send the enrobed person to the floor. It became clear at this point that some of us, specifically myself, Sheryl and Bones recognised the style of mask that this being was wearing. We’d encountered it not but a week ago, in the hands of Torval in the Plane of Air. The Vanguard are putting their efforts into a lot of operations, it would seem. After a short interrogation, which I have to note that Sheryl performed quite admirably and inspirationally via Detect Thoughts magic (I’ll need to remember that tactic and learn that in time), we found out that indeed he was sent by the Vanguard. This confirmed our suspicion that this wasn’t going to be as clear-cut and sailing as I had originally hoped. My stay in Daring Heights had just lengthened, or so it would seem. We found Wendy, Rama wanted to know more about the letters that we had all been sent, given he also received one advising him to “Run”. We didn’t gleam much information, for we both serve our roles professionally and admirably: Unless a Sender clearly marks their post with a return address and makes it clear they wish to be known, we won’t divulge that information willingly. It’s part of the Postmaster Ethics. (Note to self: possibly document Postmaster Ethics in future, to pass on to staff of Ffirst Airmail.) Our path then led us to Rivan’s estate, where Rama took me before when I was a bit of an idiot and making my intentions for Kundar a little too publicly known. I still have a desire for vengeance against Lady Khaosborne and will one day track her down and put an end to her. I still need to track down Jian Marco and Sil, her cousins that we bumped into in the swamp with Caex, who did not seem especially fond of her and advised us there were others in the family that were feeling similar. But that is a Rivalry story that I will chase up another time. We followed the trail to K’ul Goran, where we went to meet Babis Farstep, a minotaur who runs a bookstore. We enquired as to whether he knew of any references to the Vanguard, and this is where we learned that references to the Vanguard are likely to an ancient, infernal cult. We gained this knowledge from a small, short reference in a book entitled “The History of K’Ul Goran”, which I thought may be of use however short and undefining the reference may be. The other folks who are paving the path on this investigation may appreciate seeing this first hand, so I bought the book. It’s still sitting on the desk here beside me, I haven’t had the heart to take it to Markas yet. Even though Sheryl didn’t seem to harbour any ill-will towards me and my infernal heritage when she learned that the cult had similar, I have no doubt that she doesn’t see me differently because we are good friends. Perhaps I am reading too much into this? Maybe. Our adventure in the book shop over, we proceeded to make our way through the city to our next destination, not yet known. We wouldn’t reach it however, as Ida (curiously sitting on my shoulder for once) and Rama both spotted that we were being tailed. We planned an ambush, thankfully more than one of us had the capability of communicating mentally, and caught up with our “follower” in a fairly-empty alleyway. That was where they advised us that they weren’t actually there to attack us, and instead were there to guide Rama to something of interest. The thing of interest turned out to be a circle of stones with internal sigils placed in them. I was very careful to stand outside of the circle at all times, I’m not a fan of being spirited away by any kind of portal without having time to prepare first. Thankfully, we worked out that it would take all five of us to touch a stone each in turn. The sigils represented syllables of Rama’s… Other name? When we spelled out the other name by touching the sigil stones in the right order, a portal appeared. The others were less hesitant than me, and stepped through. I followed on afterwards, taking up the rear. Through the portal it was immediately clear we were still in K’ul Goran, it was still windy as hell. In the distance was a church, where we witnessed another enrobed figure heading inside. Well, I guess we found our new target. Some of us made an effort to sneak into the church a while back behind the figure, and others made less of an effort. And then there’s Rama, who strode in as if he owned the place. The hooded, enrobed and masked figure (oh look, another red mask with gold lines, this is becoming a regular thing now), began some kind of ritual, what I assumed to be summoning something, but over time it became clear that it was more opening up a portal or hole into another plane, allowing things through both ways rather than summoning it here. That was made clear when the hellhounds climbed into our plane, and Rama climbed into theirs. Not before a javelin knocked off the mask of the figure, who we discovered to be Babis. I don’t know why I wasn’t able to pick up on his Warlocky nature when we were in his store earlier. But alas, he has signed a pact with a Fiendish being rather like me, and I’m sure that it would be a disservice to Swan if I didn’t follow up on this. Rather like Lady Khaosborn, Babis Farstep has added himself to my list of rivals. The list, rather like last week, has doubled in size. Rama stepped through the portal to the other Plane, and… closed it on himself, preventing whatever was the other side from coming through. No doubt this would in time be rather disastrous for the material plane, and Rama has no doubt either stopped or delayed whatever was coming. We have time to prepare now, at least, should that danger ever reappear. We’ve also identified a new line of investigation to find leads on the Vanguard, what their existence means to the material plane, and who one of their… members are. I am holding off passing this new information off to Markas, and delivering him the book of history. I want to find a way to make it clear that I do not put stock in my infernal heritage, and that I can be trusted. I am not who I was born as, I’ve transcended beyond my own heritage.
Journal entry dated 11th of Alturiak, 1497 I think, to avoid the awkwardness of writing letters (that I still have no idea that She actually witnesses or not) and to improve on my own recollection of events as I continue my adventures in Kantas, I shall try keeping a journal instead. If indeed Swan does receive my letters and wants to complain about this then She is more than entitled to make Her appearance here to me at Kantas and make Her opinion actually known. I’ll more than happily follow Her guidance, if She makes it clear and known. Right now, I still do not understand why I was invited to be Her follower. Yesterday, I was working and doing my usual trek up to Daring Heights to deliver the mail on behalf of Ffirst Airmail and do the drop to Wendy, when she surprised me with a letter of my own, addressed to me. I thought it weird, I don’t usually receive mail, so I thanked her, made my leave and went to leave Daring Heights back to Port Ffirst as usual. As I reached the city gates, I opened the letter and this changed my plans for the day. I flew upwards, into the sky above the city, looking down trying to find a hint of where my target might be. I didn’t spot Rama, but I did spot Sheryl walking through the streets, so flew down to meet her. She’d received one of the letters too and wasn’t sure where Rama lived either, but was able to ping him via Sending. (Side note: I still find it amusing that spellcasters can’t mentally count the number of words they say, I haven’t met a single spellcaster who doesn’t count on their fingers as they speak! It’s so funny.) This led us in the right direction. As we approached however, we saw that the front door was… no longer attached. Given that we’d received letters saying Rama needed help, this made us immediately suspicious. Sheryl lept straight in, and I hung back for a few moments, having a clear line-of-sight of the danger from outside. I threw in a firebolt as the hooded, cloaked huge figure attacked. Greebo and Bones arrived after a very short, tense few moments to contribute too. Rama attacked the figure, and threw him at the wall. Unfortunately, this restricted my line of sight, so I had to move into the house, it was tactically the best thing to do. The combined efforts of all five of us (Rama, myself, Sheryl, Bones and Greebo) was enough to send the enrobed person to the floor. It became clear at this point that some of us, specifically myself, Sheryl and Bones recognised the style of mask that this being was wearing. We’d encountered it not but a week ago, in the hands of Torval in the Plane of Air. The Vanguard are putting their efforts into a lot of operations, it would seem. After a short interrogation, which I have to note that Sheryl performed quite admirably and inspirationally via Detect Thoughts magic (I’ll need to remember that tactic and learn that in time), we found out that indeed he was sent by the Vanguard. This confirmed our suspicion that this wasn’t going to be as clear-cut and sailing as I had originally hoped. My stay in Daring Heights had just lengthened, or so it would seem. We found Wendy, Rama wanted to know more about the letters that we had all been sent, given he also received one advising him to “Run”. We didn’t gleam much information, for we both serve our roles professionally and admirably: Unless a Sender clearly marks their post with a return address and makes it clear they wish to be known, we won’t divulge that information willingly. It’s part of the Postmaster Ethics. (Note to self: possibly document Postmaster Ethics in future, to pass on to staff of Ffirst Airmail.) Our path then led us to Rivan’s estate, where Rama took me before when I was a bit of an idiot and making my intentions for Kundar a little too publicly known. I still have a desire for vengeance against Lady Khaosborne and will one day track her down and put an end to her. I still need to track down Jian Marco and Sil, her cousins that we bumped into in the swamp with Caex, who did not seem especially fond of her and advised us there were others in the family that were feeling similar. But that is a Rivalry story that I will chase up another time. We followed the trail to K’ul Goran, where we went to meet Babis Farstep, a minotaur who runs a bookstore. We enquired as to whether he knew of any references to the Vanguard, and this is where we learned that references to the Vanguard are likely to an ancient, infernal cult. We gained this knowledge from a small, short reference in a book entitled “The History of K’Ul Goran”, which I thought may be of use however short and undefining the reference may be. The other folks who are paving the path on this investigation may appreciate seeing this first hand, so I bought the book. It’s still sitting on the desk here beside me, I haven’t had the heart to take it to Markas yet. Even though Sheryl didn’t seem to harbour any ill-will towards me and my infernal heritage when she learned that the cult had similar, I have no doubt that she doesn’t see me differently because we are good friends. Perhaps I am reading too much into this? Maybe. Our adventure in the book shop over, we proceeded to make our way through the city to our next destination, not yet known. We wouldn’t reach it however, as Ida (curiously sitting on my shoulder for once) and Rama both spotted that we were being tailed. We planned an ambush, thankfully more than one of us had the capability of communicating mentally, and caught up with our “follower” in a fairly-empty alleyway. That was where they advised us that they weren’t actually there to attack us, and instead were there to guide Rama to something of interest. The thing of interest turned out to be a circle of stones with internal sigils placed in them. I was very careful to stand outside of the circle at all times, I’m not a fan of being spirited away by any kind of portal without having time to prepare first. Thankfully, we worked out that it would take all five of us to touch a stone each in turn. The sigils represented syllables of Rama’s… Other name? When we spelled out the other name by touching the sigil stones in the right order, a portal appeared. The others were less hesitant than me, and stepped through. I followed on afterwards, taking up the rear. Through the portal it was immediately clear we were still in K’ul Goran, it was still windy as hell. In the distance was a church, where we witnessed another enrobed figure heading inside. Well, I guess we found our new target. Some of us made an effort to sneak into the church a while back behind the figure, and others made less of an effort. And then there’s Rama, who strode in as if he owned the place. The hooded, enrobed and masked figure (oh look, another red mask with gold lines, this is becoming a regular thing now), began some kind of ritual, what I assumed to be summoning something, but over time it became clear that it was more opening up a portal or hole into another plane, allowing things through both ways rather than summoning it here. That was made clear when the hellhounds climbed into our plane, and Rama climbed into theirs. Not before a javelin knocked off the mask of the figure, who we discovered to be Babis. I don’t know why I wasn’t able to pick up on his Warlocky nature when we were in his store earlier. But alas, he has signed a pact with a Fiendish being rather like me, and I’m sure that it would be a disservice to Swan if I didn’t follow up on this. Rather like Lady Khaosborn, Babis Farstep has added himself to my list of rivals. The list, rather like last week, has doubled in size. Rama stepped through the portal to the other Plane, and… closed it on himself, preventing whatever was the other side from coming through. No doubt this would in time be rather disastrous for the material plane, and Rama has no doubt either stopped or delayed whatever was coming. We have time to prepare now, at least, should that danger ever reappear. We’ve also identified a new line of investigation to find leads on the Vanguard, what their existence means to the material plane, and who one of their… members are. I am holding off passing this new information off to Markas, and delivering him the book of history. I want to find a way to make it clear that I do not put stock in my infernal heritage, and that I can be trusted. I am not who I was born as, I’ve transcended beyond my own heritage.
Aerial Delving
3rd of Alturiak, 1497
Ffirst Airmail is his greatest achievement, Arkadius will always labour the point whenever asks him. Combining work with pleasure is a sure-fire way of making sure you really do enjoy your days to the best of your ability. And Ffirst Airmail kept him in the air, away from the hustle-and-bustle of the streets, away from the clutter of the alleyways, and the people of the city. It wasn't that he disliked the people, he just felt more... at home and free up in the sky.
It also meant he had the opportunity to travel to different, more exotic places. Such as the island that rooted itself into the ocean not too far away that he vowed to add to the network (see "Return of the Prince"). And then there's the less exotic, but no less wonderful destinations, like Daring Heights. Arkadius, not long after founding Ffirst Airmail, had taken a business trip to meet his inspiration in Daring Heights, Wendy. She was the inspiration behind Ffirst Airmail, "post with a difference".
But that story isn't what we discuss here, it's just one of the many causes leading on to the story of how Arkadius was to visit the Plane of Air.
Dearest Swan, As previously discussed, I have taken on a new personal interest of a more... interplanar nature. I am interested in finding out more about the different planes, specifically fire, earth, water and air. I will admit that one of my regular adventuring companions, Wil Frozendagger, was the one who piqued my interest and started me off with this line of thought, with his close connections to the Plane of Water. I was on one of my regular trips to Daring Heights, delivering a bundle of mail to Wendy for onwards delivering. She had taken a copy of a local notice knowing that I would be visiting soon and knowing that I have this new particular hobby of looking into information regarding the four planes, and thought I may find it of interest. It happened to be a posting for adventurers from one Raksus Highwatch, a Priest of Melil and Commander of the Errant Guard no less. Wendy was right, it really did pique my interest so I stuck around, asked her to keep ahold of the mail to return to Port Ffirst till I was back. And immediately traveled to the meetup point. There, I bumped into Markas, Bones and Heret... and also Wil and Sheryl! What a pleasant surprise. Me and Sheryl remarked on how, as always, Mathew was missing. (Note: It's been far too long since we met up together. Must make a point of making this happen soon.) On arriving, we were ushered into a rather plush meeting room, where there was a lovely, rather... strictly-held person called Jirelle, and a rather less strictly-held Torven (again, note: I don't remember the guy's name, and honestly I don't think it'll really ever be relevant again. I will call him T for the rest of this writing). They advised us that something in the Plane of Air was disrupting local currents and patterns, making life for the beings of the Plane rather... difficult. I can empathise with that, having mapped out the natural air currents above Port Ffirst to find the best, efficient routes through the city for deliveries. I know that a current changing even by a few inches, especially when you're working from memory, can completely mess with your entire schedule, so for them... it must be bad. Very bad. So, we set off to travelling to the Plane of Air. I will admit, I was very much looking forward to this even if all of the currents and everything were off. I imagine that the Plane of Air must be a liberating place of freedom for the likes of me. A near-infinite space where you can just... fly. It sounded like my idea of paradise. Maybe one day I'll emigrate there. But for now, just a brief visit, and while we were there we were set to travel by airship. How would we get there? ...Hmm. Interesting. We were to be... slingshotted there. In pods. White, spherical pods. We were led to a yard, where there were these pods which could be magically fired into the sky, and when they were, we would land at the dock in the Plane of Air where the airship was waiting to take us to the disruption. Interesting contraption, not sure if I quite like the idea of being part of a slingshot maneuver, but hey ho it happened and it was not entirely uncomfortable or unsafe. We survived. The airship set off, and began using the air currents to get us to where we needed to be, the place where all the air currents were being disrupted from. Of course, with the currents being disrupted it meant the journey at the end wasn't as smooth as we would have liked. Everyone else seemed prepared, when we lost one of the masts, for us to crash-land. For some reason, I didn't and I took a bit of a tumble. Pretty sure I landed on a wing, and bent the very end out of place. It hurt, I'll tell you that much. We landed in what seemed like a runway. Very convenient. Most of the crew also took a bit of a tumble, but none of them seemed to be too banged up, they were able to keep the ship intact at least, which is a positive. T informed us that the main passageway, while more efficient path to what we assume to be the core, probably wasn't the best and safest route, and led us down a (another convenience) side passageway. We set off down the corridor, and eventually noted that things were going a little weird, given that the whole asteroidy thingy seemed to be rotating, taking the corridor with it. For most of the floor-walkers amongst us, this caused a few issues. For the winged amongst us, we elected to float a few inches above the ground to stop the rotation being an issue, and for the Markas' amongst us there was no issue at all. He ran on ahead, checking that the path ahead was safe. When he did, I nose-dived down to be next to him. Easy. The others took other methods to dive down, of various levels of safety. Markas had noted that the next passageway seemed to be cylindrical, and had rotating parts. In each of the three parts rotating around were a slightly raised floor part and a switch. Two of the three parts had traps, and the third did not. I was able to use Mage Hand to pull the switch, and this stopped the passageway rotating around, allowing us safe entry to the next point. Markas went on ahead to scout out the remaining three slots, to identify whether we could get a path. He did a very good job, to be fair. Very useful. On the way through, I found a bluish gem, embedded in the wall. It felt like it was calling out for something... magical energy. I stuck a Mage Hand into it, and it recessed into the wall, and the rotation of the entire asteroid... stopped. It seemed like it was on a timer, which didn't help, but hey... Mage Hand has a decent enough range, I could keep it going for a little while. Long enough to help people through this passage, and maybe the next. Ah. The next passage. It was... well, it was a swingy bladey axey corridory of deathy. Thankfully with the way that the asteroid had began resting on thanks to the assistance of the blue gem, the corridor was orientated in a way that there would be an easier path through. Markas went first, showing just how athletic, acrobatic and dramatic he was. After one glancing blow, he was able to make it through easily. Sheryl went next, and she... well, she didn't do as well as Markas, but she was still impressive. Wil volunteered to go next, and from personal experience his skill-set is similar to mine. I quickly mentally asked Ida if she minded travelling with him, assuming that he would make a botch-job of making it through the corridor, and knowing I'd be able to remotely help getting him back up if he went down. She accepted and Wil took her gladly, and boy did I not regret that choice. I gave him specific instructions that if he were to take harm, keep Ida on him afterwards and I would heal him up, otherwise pass Ida on to whoever did the worst in the passageway. If he was a drum, the blades and axes were wielded by one of the worst musicians on the planet! The moment he got to the other end, he passed Ida on to Sheryl, who then passed her on to Markas. While this was going on, Heret and Bones were both checking out the mechanism that controlled the corridor. They worked out that if a certain number of hardened objects found their way into certain places along the corridor, all of the swords and axes would find themselves no longer moving. That would mean we'd pass through unharmed. Of course, I wasn't risking my life on the path, and waited for their investigation to conclude, which was also successful. At the end of the next corridor and around a corner, we came across a huge stone door. Markas offered to open it, while we all took strategic positions around in case anything happened. When the door opened, we came across what we assumed to be the core of the whole place. It was a spherical room, full of stormy weather. Odd, but okay. Floating around inside were platforms, and at the very center an orb which grabbed my attention and held on to it like tunnel vision. It's what we were sent here to investigate and solve, so it was what I would do. Markas was similar on a sigil floating around the outside of the room. At this time, we realised that T was missing. An earth elemental made to attack us, and didn't do a great job, but a boomerang thing hit me and Bones upside the head. I immediately added T's name alongside Khaosborn's on the list of people I didn't like immensely. The list had now doubled in size. We cracked open the orb, it seemed to be some kind of... prison, maybe? Holding something inside? The thing inside, some kind of ancient aeons old elemental, also took exception to T's traitorous behaviour, and went to give him a giant high-five. T evaporated on the spot, when the giant lightning hand passed through him. I mentally removed his name from the list, and the length of the list halved again. The elemental left, and everything seemed... fine again. We found a note amongst T's leftover possessions, ("T. Our assassin. Get to the first seal and take it out. Then destroy the evidence. Leave no witnesses. Glory to the Vanguard."), as well as a few other things. Investigation still pending on some of these elements, and I will write a follow-up on this later, perhaps. With the airship fully out of commission, we had to wait for a while for rescue, before we were able to head off back to Kantas and the Material Plane via another slingshot pod. I had a jolly-good time flexing my wings and flying around, while the others seemed to enjoy each other's company on the boat. I don't like being constrained to one spot for too long, I get bored otherwise. My search for information on the other planes continues. Kindest regards, Arkadius Hogg
Dearest Swan, As previously discussed, I have taken on a new personal interest of a more... interplanar nature. I am interested in finding out more about the different planes, specifically fire, earth, water and air. I will admit that one of my regular adventuring companions, Wil Frozendagger, was the one who piqued my interest and started me off with this line of thought, with his close connections to the Plane of Water. I was on one of my regular trips to Daring Heights, delivering a bundle of mail to Wendy for onwards delivering. She had taken a copy of a local notice knowing that I would be visiting soon and knowing that I have this new particular hobby of looking into information regarding the four planes, and thought I may find it of interest. It happened to be a posting for adventurers from one Raksus Highwatch, a Priest of Melil and Commander of the Errant Guard no less. Wendy was right, it really did pique my interest so I stuck around, asked her to keep ahold of the mail to return to Port Ffirst till I was back. And immediately traveled to the meetup point. There, I bumped into Markas, Bones and Heret... and also Wil and Sheryl! What a pleasant surprise. Me and Sheryl remarked on how, as always, Mathew was missing. (Note: It's been far too long since we met up together. Must make a point of making this happen soon.) On arriving, we were ushered into a rather plush meeting room, where there was a lovely, rather... strictly-held person called Jirelle, and a rather less strictly-held Torven (again, note: I don't remember the guy's name, and honestly I don't think it'll really ever be relevant again. I will call him T for the rest of this writing). They advised us that something in the Plane of Air was disrupting local currents and patterns, making life for the beings of the Plane rather... difficult. I can empathise with that, having mapped out the natural air currents above Port Ffirst to find the best, efficient routes through the city for deliveries. I know that a current changing even by a few inches, especially when you're working from memory, can completely mess with your entire schedule, so for them... it must be bad. Very bad. So, we set off to travelling to the Plane of Air. I will admit, I was very much looking forward to this even if all of the currents and everything were off. I imagine that the Plane of Air must be a liberating place of freedom for the likes of me. A near-infinite space where you can just... fly. It sounded like my idea of paradise. Maybe one day I'll emigrate there. But for now, just a brief visit, and while we were there we were set to travel by airship. How would we get there? ...Hmm. Interesting. We were to be... slingshotted there. In pods. White, spherical pods. We were led to a yard, where there were these pods which could be magically fired into the sky, and when they were, we would land at the dock in the Plane of Air where the airship was waiting to take us to the disruption. Interesting contraption, not sure if I quite like the idea of being part of a slingshot maneuver, but hey ho it happened and it was not entirely uncomfortable or unsafe. We survived. The airship set off, and began using the air currents to get us to where we needed to be, the place where all the air currents were being disrupted from. Of course, with the currents being disrupted it meant the journey at the end wasn't as smooth as we would have liked. Everyone else seemed prepared, when we lost one of the masts, for us to crash-land. For some reason, I didn't and I took a bit of a tumble. Pretty sure I landed on a wing, and bent the very end out of place. It hurt, I'll tell you that much. We landed in what seemed like a runway. Very convenient. Most of the crew also took a bit of a tumble, but none of them seemed to be too banged up, they were able to keep the ship intact at least, which is a positive. T informed us that the main passageway, while more efficient path to what we assume to be the core, probably wasn't the best and safest route, and led us down a (another convenience) side passageway. We set off down the corridor, and eventually noted that things were going a little weird, given that the whole asteroidy thingy seemed to be rotating, taking the corridor with it. For most of the floor-walkers amongst us, this caused a few issues. For the winged amongst us, we elected to float a few inches above the ground to stop the rotation being an issue, and for the Markas' amongst us there was no issue at all. He ran on ahead, checking that the path ahead was safe. When he did, I nose-dived down to be next to him. Easy. The others took other methods to dive down, of various levels of safety. Markas had noted that the next passageway seemed to be cylindrical, and had rotating parts. In each of the three parts rotating around were a slightly raised floor part and a switch. Two of the three parts had traps, and the third did not. I was able to use Mage Hand to pull the switch, and this stopped the passageway rotating around, allowing us safe entry to the next point. Markas went on ahead to scout out the remaining three slots, to identify whether we could get a path. He did a very good job, to be fair. Very useful. On the way through, I found a bluish gem, embedded in the wall. It felt like it was calling out for something... magical energy. I stuck a Mage Hand into it, and it recessed into the wall, and the rotation of the entire asteroid... stopped. It seemed like it was on a timer, which didn't help, but hey... Mage Hand has a decent enough range, I could keep it going for a little while. Long enough to help people through this passage, and maybe the next. Ah. The next passage. It was... well, it was a swingy bladey axey corridory of deathy. Thankfully with the way that the asteroid had began resting on thanks to the assistance of the blue gem, the corridor was orientated in a way that there would be an easier path through. Markas went first, showing just how athletic, acrobatic and dramatic he was. After one glancing blow, he was able to make it through easily. Sheryl went next, and she... well, she didn't do as well as Markas, but she was still impressive. Wil volunteered to go next, and from personal experience his skill-set is similar to mine. I quickly mentally asked Ida if she minded travelling with him, assuming that he would make a botch-job of making it through the corridor, and knowing I'd be able to remotely help getting him back up if he went down. She accepted and Wil took her gladly, and boy did I not regret that choice. I gave him specific instructions that if he were to take harm, keep Ida on him afterwards and I would heal him up, otherwise pass Ida on to whoever did the worst in the passageway. If he was a drum, the blades and axes were wielded by one of the worst musicians on the planet! The moment he got to the other end, he passed Ida on to Sheryl, who then passed her on to Markas. While this was going on, Heret and Bones were both checking out the mechanism that controlled the corridor. They worked out that if a certain number of hardened objects found their way into certain places along the corridor, all of the swords and axes would find themselves no longer moving. That would mean we'd pass through unharmed. Of course, I wasn't risking my life on the path, and waited for their investigation to conclude, which was also successful. At the end of the next corridor and around a corner, we came across a huge stone door. Markas offered to open it, while we all took strategic positions around in case anything happened. When the door opened, we came across what we assumed to be the core of the whole place. It was a spherical room, full of stormy weather. Odd, but okay. Floating around inside were platforms, and at the very center an orb which grabbed my attention and held on to it like tunnel vision. It's what we were sent here to investigate and solve, so it was what I would do. Markas was similar on a sigil floating around the outside of the room. At this time, we realised that T was missing. An earth elemental made to attack us, and didn't do a great job, but a boomerang thing hit me and Bones upside the head. I immediately added T's name alongside Khaosborn's on the list of people I didn't like immensely. The list had now doubled in size. We cracked open the orb, it seemed to be some kind of... prison, maybe? Holding something inside? The thing inside, some kind of ancient aeons old elemental, also took exception to T's traitorous behaviour, and went to give him a giant high-five. T evaporated on the spot, when the giant lightning hand passed through him. I mentally removed his name from the list, and the length of the list halved again. The elemental left, and everything seemed... fine again. We found a note amongst T's leftover possessions, ("T. Our assassin. Get to the first seal and take it out. Then destroy the evidence. Leave no witnesses. Glory to the Vanguard."), as well as a few other things. Investigation still pending on some of these elements, and I will write a follow-up on this later, perhaps. With the airship fully out of commission, we had to wait for a while for rescue, before we were able to head off back to Kantas and the Material Plane via another slingshot pod. I had a jolly-good time flexing my wings and flying around, while the others seemed to enjoy each other's company on the boat. I don't like being constrained to one spot for too long, I get bored otherwise. My search for information on the other planes continues. Kindest regards, Arkadius Hogg
Return of the Prince
30th of Hammer, 1497
The wind was howling, whirling briskly around Arkadius and finding it's way into his hood to bite at his face, warmed by the alcohol resting in his blood-stream. He was stood on one of the wooden piers of the Port Ffirst docks, staring out into the ocean, the only noise the waves lapping beneath him. Through his telepathic link with Ida, he thought the words, I've been staring at the edge of the water, for as long as I can remember, never really knowing why. Yesterday, I worked it out: I was jealous, of Wil. The ocean and the water seem so... Calm, and angry, and wild, and... Emotional. Fire knows only one emotion, and that's anger. And the air, it's bitter and cold. The water is mischievous, and has a mind of it's own, and... That's his domain. And you have to find happiness where you are, right?
Ida was sat next to him, barely concentrating on what he is saying, half-asleep next to his feet on the dock. It was late, and she was mildly concerned that he was still out in the darkness that night, alone... More or less. Arkadius' cloak dropping to the pier brought her out of her tired lapse of concentration just in time for her to see his wings folding in as close to his back as possible as he dives off the pier into the cold, unforgiving ocean. She bolted to her feet with a single squeak of utter surprise, leaping for the edge of the pier to peer over the edge, into the water.
One more swig of Fire Whiskey, and Arkadius had nearly drank a whole bottle. It had certainly gone to his head, as he raised to his feet and exclaimed to the whole bar around him, "Hey, hey. Listen up, my fellows... I have a story to tell." He waited for a moment to see how many heads were turned, and the whole room had gone quiet. He smiled, and strummed his lyre, with a mystical tune, introducing himself. "Not a day or two ago, I took a notice off the notice board, right here..." he gestured at the rumour board hanging on the wall, pointing to the spot where the notice had been hung, "And as I took it, gasp shock and horror! A sign was etched into the skin on the back of my right hand. Would it be permanent? Would I ever find out where it came from? Does it mean something? Well..." he balled his right hand into a fist, and coughed into it. "My... throat is a little dry. Perhaps... another whisky to wet the whistle?" A snifter of Fire Whiskey made it's way into his hand, which he downed as quickly as it appeared. "Well! Let me tell you, of course it would prove to be deathly important! But that's a few steps ahead of where we are. The instructions of the advert said meet my dear friend Wil at the docs at the waxing crescent, which I did promptly, ready for an adventure. There was Taz talking to Wil as I arrived, and we were swiftly joined by Sheryl, Mace and Bones. Names you will, of course, recognise, for they are mighty, fearless and impressive adventurers!" He grinned as he made this point, now leaning on the bar, the group in the inn around him in a semi-circle, hanging on his every word. "Out of the foggy darkness of the ocean stretched... a big, huge ship! The Drunken Mermaid was her name, as well as the figurehead sitting pride-of-place at the... the front, I'm not a sailor, I don't know the terms," he exclaimed, waiving a hand in dismissal at his own lack of knowledge. "Not important. There was a figurehead, and it fit the name. It was as quiet as the night, and unless you knew it was coming or were looking in the right direction, you'd completely miss it. As it sailed past, a minotaur assisted us with boarding, and it would turn out to be none other than one of our own's... close acquaintances," he continued, raising and lowering his eyebrows rather suggestively to punctuate his statement. A few of the less drunk, more aware patrons around him chuckled a bit as they realised the hidden meaning of his words. "We sailed for a few hours, and eventually found our way to our destination, the 'land with no roots' as we would find is a travelling island. As we approached, we saw what we were there to assist with, an onslaught of... undead, and creatures of the unknown attacking the island. It was not a pleasant sight." He left his words hanging for a moment. "The good news is, the captain had laced the ship with magics to prevent them from seeing us for now, and the one that did accidentally stumble into us was... incinerated, by yours truly!" Arkadius punctuated this sentence by emitting a flame from his palm, using the cantrip Produce Flame. He let the fire stay there for a moment, the patrons ooh-ing and aah-ing, before closing his fist and letting the flame die away. "Alas, we had to hurry. We made our way to the island to meet with what I presume is Wil's people. Associates or friends of some kind, at least. There, they charged us with protecting this... egg. What is inside? Well... Wouldn't you like to know,", Arkadius tapped his nose, with a wink and a grin. "Our targets were a fire elemental and an air elemental. Now, as you might be able to tell, I'm rather partial to the air," a flutter of his wings to make his point easily, "And perhaps my use of fire earlier might be a big hint that it's one of my specialities. So that doesn't bode well for me. But hey... I'll do what I can to help a young, resting and defenceless unborn child," he paused for a moments, eyes closed trying to remember the rest of the evening. "Ah yes! The big battle happened next! We were charged by the water and the earth elementals to protect the egg from their guardian bretheren, who had been driven mad following their ancient task to the letter. A sad end, but an admirable one. There were three points of the island requiring support, and six of us. Guess what? We all split up. Me with Bones, Wil with Sheryl, And Taz with Mace. Bones and I rained down hell among what found it's way out of the water towards us on one of the beaches, of course. I myself managed to wipe out eight of the blighters with one fireball. One of my... proudest moments, may I say." He buffed his own fingertips, all six of them, on the front of his shirt. "After a while, we were summoned back. I will... allow my dear associates to regale you with their own stories of the events elsewhere on the island, I couldn't retell their story, give them their due! We travelled back to the cave where the two elementals resided, only to have... disaster befall us! The fire and air elementals finding the cave too!" He gasped dramatically, joining in with the crowd. "The earth elemental shielded the egg, and Sheryl and Taz went in to fight. I stayed back, providing magical encouragement from behind, and taking firey force potshots. Four firey rays striking the air elemental and it's associate standing between them and the fire elemental... did I not mention them? Huh. How thoughtless of me, perhaps I forgot them because of how meaningless they felt. They seemed to vanish pretty quickly, the coward." He stood quiet for a few moments before one of the patrons yelled Well? What else? Come on, man! Arkadius grinned. "Well, more fighting ensued before the air elemental passed away, and I fired another spell at the fire elemental, and..." he closed his eyes, thinking over the events of the day, every moment carefully playing out in his head. "...Long story short, it became dust. The egg hatched, and that's the end of the story. I do apologise, I have... somewhere else to be." He quickly moved to pick up his coat from the back of the seat where he had left it hanging, Ida stirring where she was lay in the inner left-hand pocket. You're done drinking? That's early for you, she murmured through their telepathic link. Yep. I have some... thinking I wanted to do, clear of the haze of the inn.
She could just about feel Arkadius' mental touch in the ocean beneath the pier as he flexed his body, swimming along with the current for a good few moments, just to the outer limit of their link, before looping in a circle back closer to her. She knew he was safe, a small squeak of relief and a soft roll of her eyes as he began swimming in loop-the-loops below the pier, clearly now showing off. Well, there you are. When you're ready, I'd like to go home, please don't drift off too far, she said, climbing into the warmth of the hood of his abandoned cloak and shuffling into a comfortable position to fall asleep quickly.
One more swig of Fire Whiskey, and Arkadius had nearly drank a whole bottle. It had certainly gone to his head, as he raised to his feet and exclaimed to the whole bar around him, "Hey, hey. Listen up, my fellows... I have a story to tell." He waited for a moment to see how many heads were turned, and the whole room had gone quiet. He smiled, and strummed his lyre, with a mystical tune, introducing himself. "Not a day or two ago, I took a notice off the notice board, right here..." he gestured at the rumour board hanging on the wall, pointing to the spot where the notice had been hung, "And as I took it, gasp shock and horror! A sign was etched into the skin on the back of my right hand. Would it be permanent? Would I ever find out where it came from? Does it mean something? Well..." he balled his right hand into a fist, and coughed into it. "My... throat is a little dry. Perhaps... another whisky to wet the whistle?" A snifter of Fire Whiskey made it's way into his hand, which he downed as quickly as it appeared. "Well! Let me tell you, of course it would prove to be deathly important! But that's a few steps ahead of where we are. The instructions of the advert said meet my dear friend Wil at the docs at the waxing crescent, which I did promptly, ready for an adventure. There was Taz talking to Wil as I arrived, and we were swiftly joined by Sheryl, Mace and Bones. Names you will, of course, recognise, for they are mighty, fearless and impressive adventurers!" He grinned as he made this point, now leaning on the bar, the group in the inn around him in a semi-circle, hanging on his every word. "Out of the foggy darkness of the ocean stretched... a big, huge ship! The Drunken Mermaid was her name, as well as the figurehead sitting pride-of-place at the... the front, I'm not a sailor, I don't know the terms," he exclaimed, waiving a hand in dismissal at his own lack of knowledge. "Not important. There was a figurehead, and it fit the name. It was as quiet as the night, and unless you knew it was coming or were looking in the right direction, you'd completely miss it. As it sailed past, a minotaur assisted us with boarding, and it would turn out to be none other than one of our own's... close acquaintances," he continued, raising and lowering his eyebrows rather suggestively to punctuate his statement. A few of the less drunk, more aware patrons around him chuckled a bit as they realised the hidden meaning of his words. "We sailed for a few hours, and eventually found our way to our destination, the 'land with no roots' as we would find is a travelling island. As we approached, we saw what we were there to assist with, an onslaught of... undead, and creatures of the unknown attacking the island. It was not a pleasant sight." He left his words hanging for a moment. "The good news is, the captain had laced the ship with magics to prevent them from seeing us for now, and the one that did accidentally stumble into us was... incinerated, by yours truly!" Arkadius punctuated this sentence by emitting a flame from his palm, using the cantrip Produce Flame. He let the fire stay there for a moment, the patrons ooh-ing and aah-ing, before closing his fist and letting the flame die away. "Alas, we had to hurry. We made our way to the island to meet with what I presume is Wil's people. Associates or friends of some kind, at least. There, they charged us with protecting this... egg. What is inside? Well... Wouldn't you like to know,", Arkadius tapped his nose, with a wink and a grin. "Our targets were a fire elemental and an air elemental. Now, as you might be able to tell, I'm rather partial to the air," a flutter of his wings to make his point easily, "And perhaps my use of fire earlier might be a big hint that it's one of my specialities. So that doesn't bode well for me. But hey... I'll do what I can to help a young, resting and defenceless unborn child," he paused for a moments, eyes closed trying to remember the rest of the evening. "Ah yes! The big battle happened next! We were charged by the water and the earth elementals to protect the egg from their guardian bretheren, who had been driven mad following their ancient task to the letter. A sad end, but an admirable one. There were three points of the island requiring support, and six of us. Guess what? We all split up. Me with Bones, Wil with Sheryl, And Taz with Mace. Bones and I rained down hell among what found it's way out of the water towards us on one of the beaches, of course. I myself managed to wipe out eight of the blighters with one fireball. One of my... proudest moments, may I say." He buffed his own fingertips, all six of them, on the front of his shirt. "After a while, we were summoned back. I will... allow my dear associates to regale you with their own stories of the events elsewhere on the island, I couldn't retell their story, give them their due! We travelled back to the cave where the two elementals resided, only to have... disaster befall us! The fire and air elementals finding the cave too!" He gasped dramatically, joining in with the crowd. "The earth elemental shielded the egg, and Sheryl and Taz went in to fight. I stayed back, providing magical encouragement from behind, and taking firey force potshots. Four firey rays striking the air elemental and it's associate standing between them and the fire elemental... did I not mention them? Huh. How thoughtless of me, perhaps I forgot them because of how meaningless they felt. They seemed to vanish pretty quickly, the coward." He stood quiet for a few moments before one of the patrons yelled Well? What else? Come on, man! Arkadius grinned. "Well, more fighting ensued before the air elemental passed away, and I fired another spell at the fire elemental, and..." he closed his eyes, thinking over the events of the day, every moment carefully playing out in his head. "...Long story short, it became dust. The egg hatched, and that's the end of the story. I do apologise, I have... somewhere else to be." He quickly moved to pick up his coat from the back of the seat where he had left it hanging, Ida stirring where she was lay in the inner left-hand pocket. You're done drinking? That's early for you, she murmured through their telepathic link. Yep. I have some... thinking I wanted to do, clear of the haze of the inn.
She could just about feel Arkadius' mental touch in the ocean beneath the pier as he flexed his body, swimming along with the current for a good few moments, just to the outer limit of their link, before looping in a circle back closer to her. She knew he was safe, a small squeak of relief and a soft roll of her eyes as he began swimming in loop-the-loops below the pier, clearly now showing off. Well, there you are. When you're ready, I'd like to go home, please don't drift off too far, she said, climbing into the warmth of the hood of his abandoned cloak and shuffling into a comfortable position to fall asleep quickly.
Losing a Friend
9th of Hammer, 1497
The events in this journal entry take place some time following the events of "Amorphophallus Titanium" and Arkadius returning home from this adventure.
For a brief second, it felt like a portal opened up in his chest, and took away all his insides. “Is that… who and what I think it is?”, was all he managed to say, followed by Mathew asking "I need privacy and a few things, can I use your office?”, before a solitary tear made its way down his cheek, closely followed by a near-constant stream. It took a few seconds before he half-composed himself and he nodded silently. It was the first proper loss he had felt in many, many years, and it stung bitterly.
He cleared his throat, and turned to the staff behind the counters. “Folks… I'closing the office for two days, please get word to the delivery team and put the word out amongst the citizens of Port Ffirst. Undoubtedly, they will hear of the reason why soon enough. You may all go home, and you will be fully paid for the time. Just… be with your families, and appreciate the time you have with them.”
Arkadius quickly led Mathew back into the private area which housed his office, brushing away everything from atop his desk onto the floor with one sweep of his wing, his papers, books and writing implements clattering away noisily onto the floor.
Ida quietly made her way into the room, appearing in her cat form which she felt most comfortable being in when at home in the office and Port Ffirst. She walked by Arkadius’ foot, rubbing against his shin for a moment letting him know she was there, before sitting stone-dead still next to him.
“We will leave you be, me and Ida. But before you even dare think about riding off into the sunset again, I would like to… Know what happened. An explanation, if you will deign to enlighten me. Do you need anything, before I go?”
[Time passes. See the rest of the action here.]
Arkadius moved over to his friend’s side, placing a hand on Matthew's shoulder. Ida, Arkadius’ cat familiar, joined him too, rubbing up against Mathew in an attempt to soothe him. “I'm sorry, Mathew. Gegrun was an amazing guy, and… He will be missed. And we should heed his words. Be nice...”
Amorphophallus Titanium
8th of Hammer, 1497
Arkadius hadn't even unlocked the front door to Ffirst Airmail’s office before he felt the telltale tentative mental connection with Ida fully forming. You're back, was all Ida said as he stumbled through the door. "Yes, barely… Ugh. I'm not gonna be looking at plants the same way any time soon… They damned well nearly killed me. Though I did get this wand out of a kobold, so… Not all bad…"
A surprise meeting from Mathew led me to be spending a little more time than I had planned for in the Flourished Hook, waiting for people to be looking for him. People being adventurers for a quest, for which he'd asked me to take over the organizing and planning. And paying. I'd only met Onno once before, and it just so happened to be a very… humorous time for me, given that I adored every moment with Onno, his personality and demeanour. "I have been given a mission…" was his greeting, and straight away I knew it was going to be a pleasant day. A few carrots, and a bottle of whiskey later, and a rag-tag bunch of adventurers… Sorry, a well-fitting coterie of adventurers did we make. Me, Onno, Wren, Bones, Mace and… Kegs? Cakes? Caex. Sure. The Flourished Hook happened to be closing for a private event, so the coterie travelled that night. I think I may have annoyed everyone by inventing a new whiskey song ("One bottle of whiskey in my bag, one bottle of whiskey! You take it out, and have a swig, and put the bottle of whiskey back in the bag!". Though it will show them when it wins loads of awards in years to come. On reaching the bog and the swamp, it didn't take long for us to notice trouble, Caex wasn't wrong. There were dead things. With tracks that looked like all the snakes had crawled up into a ball together and… Am I misremembering this? Is this all in a different order? Oh well. It's my story, I'll tell it how I want. There were kobolds too! Oh yes, seven of the little blighters. All dead. And wearing her symbol. That made me annoyed. Wren, the City Guard whattymajig person cut off one of the symbols, saying the City Guard should be aware. Not sure if they'll be able to help, given… Well, her abilities. I will find her, one day. We followed the trail, and apparently it went near Caex’s shack thing. I can't believe he lives out there. We stayed there for the night, and found Keith the next day. Oh, I forgot to tell you about that. Keith is… This… Horse. With humps on his back. And the worst possible mood and temperament you can imagine. He definitely has the hump...s. With everyone. So, he was struggling in quicksand. I was immediately volunteered to fly over with rope to try and get that tied to him,so the strong people could pull him out. Yes,I could have used Mage Hand, I forgot all about it. You know how much I like to show off with my wings. That's when, after a little while in a different clearing, we found another kobolds. Alive. I pointed a hand of fire in his direction, just to help… Keep the conversation civil. Long story short, stuff happened and we started fighting. He had the symbol of her too, so he had to go down ultimately. That's when the two massive flowers came out of the woodwork, and started being vicious. Last thing I remember is one of them taking offence to my use of fire, and coming along to absolutely throttle me. The first thing I remember after that is them both being dead, and Mace saying something. The kobolds offered us a deal, and we found out they were… Oh yes, there were two of them. Not long before I collapsed, his brother cast a spell from the tree line. But yes they, the brother and sister, are the cousin of Khaosborn Cow-face, and said there were others who didn't see eye-to-eye. Not sure, they're all so small… Made a deal, let them go and got this pretty cool looking wand for letting them go. Might try to find them some time. Or others in the family... So yeah, that was my day, how was yours being here all alone, mooching around the city like a cat? Hear any interesting gossip?
A surprise meeting from Mathew led me to be spending a little more time than I had planned for in the Flourished Hook, waiting for people to be looking for him. People being adventurers for a quest, for which he'd asked me to take over the organizing and planning. And paying. I'd only met Onno once before, and it just so happened to be a very… humorous time for me, given that I adored every moment with Onno, his personality and demeanour. "I have been given a mission…" was his greeting, and straight away I knew it was going to be a pleasant day. A few carrots, and a bottle of whiskey later, and a rag-tag bunch of adventurers… Sorry, a well-fitting coterie of adventurers did we make. Me, Onno, Wren, Bones, Mace and… Kegs? Cakes? Caex. Sure. The Flourished Hook happened to be closing for a private event, so the coterie travelled that night. I think I may have annoyed everyone by inventing a new whiskey song ("One bottle of whiskey in my bag, one bottle of whiskey! You take it out, and have a swig, and put the bottle of whiskey back in the bag!". Though it will show them when it wins loads of awards in years to come. On reaching the bog and the swamp, it didn't take long for us to notice trouble, Caex wasn't wrong. There were dead things. With tracks that looked like all the snakes had crawled up into a ball together and… Am I misremembering this? Is this all in a different order? Oh well. It's my story, I'll tell it how I want. There were kobolds too! Oh yes, seven of the little blighters. All dead. And wearing her symbol. That made me annoyed. Wren, the City Guard whattymajig person cut off one of the symbols, saying the City Guard should be aware. Not sure if they'll be able to help, given… Well, her abilities. I will find her, one day. We followed the trail, and apparently it went near Caex’s shack thing. I can't believe he lives out there. We stayed there for the night, and found Keith the next day. Oh, I forgot to tell you about that. Keith is… This… Horse. With humps on his back. And the worst possible mood and temperament you can imagine. He definitely has the hump...s. With everyone. So, he was struggling in quicksand. I was immediately volunteered to fly over with rope to try and get that tied to him,so the strong people could pull him out. Yes,I could have used Mage Hand, I forgot all about it. You know how much I like to show off with my wings. That's when, after a little while in a different clearing, we found another kobolds. Alive. I pointed a hand of fire in his direction, just to help… Keep the conversation civil. Long story short, stuff happened and we started fighting. He had the symbol of her too, so he had to go down ultimately. That's when the two massive flowers came out of the woodwork, and started being vicious. Last thing I remember is one of them taking offence to my use of fire, and coming along to absolutely throttle me. The first thing I remember after that is them both being dead, and Mace saying something. The kobolds offered us a deal, and we found out they were… Oh yes, there were two of them. Not long before I collapsed, his brother cast a spell from the tree line. But yes they, the brother and sister, are the cousin of Khaosborn Cow-face, and said there were others who didn't see eye-to-eye. Not sure, they're all so small… Made a deal, let them go and got this pretty cool looking wand for letting them go. Might try to find them some time. Or others in the family... So yeah, that was my day, how was yours being here all alone, mooching around the city like a cat? Hear any interesting gossip?
The Reappearance of Alocasia Zebrina
14th of Nightal, 1496
The arrival of his long-lost cousin had shaken Arkadius to the core. He hadn't seen her since they were both little, he can't have been more than twelve years old, and she eight at the time. She hadn't really changed a bit though, she was still as excitable today as she was when she was little, and even looked fairly the same. Well, she was recognisable, to say the least. The last that Arkadius had seen her was a few days after her parents, his auntie and uncle, vanished and she was taken away to somewhere. He'd finally get the chance to find out where she'd been.
"So... uhh... how have you been? I've missed you since you went away," he asked, unsure of how to word things better. He really was a bit shaken. Alocasia giggled at this question, "You're conversational skills haven't improved much then from the last time I saw you. I'm fine, thank you for asking, how are you?"
"I'm... surviving. Things have been... umm, hectic, the last few months. Years, even. I... left home when I turned eighteen, few years after you... vanished?"
Alocasia's smile drooped imperceptibly for a split second, but she recovered it quickly, though not quick enough for Arkadius to miss it. "Yeah, that was unfortunate. And weird. I went to live in the city, of all places. Not sure why, but hey ho. I hated it there, it was all stuffy and boring living in the big palace..."
Arkadius choked on the air in his throat when she mentioned living in a place. "Sorry, run that one by me again, palace?"
Alocasia nodded. "Yeah! Miss Zebrina adopted me and took me in, and took me to live with her in her house. Which turned out to be a big palace. I loved it there cause it was so big, and comfortable and posh, but everyone was so formal and boring. 'No, Mistress Zebrina, you aren't allowed to climb and jump on the furniture, it's for sitting on not jumping on', 'No, Mistress Zebrina, you must eat all of your dinner, we can't be wasting food, can we?', they were so boring. But after a while, I think Miss Zebrina got a little bit tired of me wandering off and having my own adventures, so she sent me off on an adventure, and that was that I haven't been back."
Arkadius grinned, knowing that she was leading the conversation to exactly where she wanted it to be. "So, what have you been doing on your adventure?" he asked, completely understanding he was playing into her hands.
"Ah, well I am so glad you asked and are showing an interest! I know you've been on your own adventure, cause I went back and spoke to your dad a few years ago, and he said you'd left aaaaaages ago. But I won't bore you with the full story, I'll give you the cliff notes. I spent time wandering, meeting different animals, rescuing a few if they were injured or trapped, and did odd-jobs for towns and villages. Then I went home, and spoke to people there. I wanted to meet up with you, but obviously you'd gone. That's when I found your old drum that you used to hate playing before, and have been practising and am actually quite good at it. I see you've given up trying to hide away from music, and are embracing your lyre-tastical skills!"
Arkadius winced. 'Lyre-tastical' did not hit the mark well, but Alocasia still giggled at her own humour. Arkadius tilted his head to the side, rubbing his chin with two of his six fingers. "Hmm. If you're going to be sticking around in Kantas for a while, and still feel musical, then... there's two lovely people you should meet. Who totally won't have been spying on us this entire time. Matthew, Sheryl? You there?", he loudly exclaimed the last part, stretching around to face behind him as he called out for his associates who he knew deep down would be too suspicious and caring to leave him wander around with a stranger. He knew at least one of them would have noticed the silent conversation between him and Alocasia during their charity concert earlier that day...
Help Us Hope
1st of Nightal, 1496
The blood dripping from his forehead was becoming a more-than-mild irritant, slowly reaching his eyes and interrupting his vision. He panted his way through the pain, "Do we have… anything else… that needs to die?", his hand reached up reflexibly to his forehead, wiping it and flicking the blood from his hand to the ground. It took barely a second for Arkadius’ eyes to be distracted by the blood pooling on the floor at his feet, instead of being drank by the ground as he was lead to believe was ‘tradition’ in these areas. His dazed brain took a few more moments to truly consider this discovery, his eyebrows rapidly raising high once it had processed. "Erm, folks? I think we have a bigger…"
His words were cut off by the loud rumbling.
Dearest Swan, I’ve not written to you in a while. Again, I let things slip. Things have changed since the last time I wrote to you, and I’ve been spending less time writing letters, and more time… well, delivering other people’s letters. Since we last spoke, I formed Port Ffirst’s first postal system, Ffirst Airmail, and have been running that as a private enterprise for a little while. I even started a band! But that’s not why I am writing to you. I’ve been avoiding the subject of war for as long as it was going on, over in K’ul Goran. I’ll admit, at times I can be a right coward. I don’t want to die, or be hurt, or anything. Some days, I wonder what you saw in me that made you think I deserve all this, all that you have given me. But I digress… K’ul Goran alerted us that the final throes of war were approaching through a simple message, “Help Us Hope". Naturally, those I call my closest allies said they were heeding the call, and those pangs of cowardness hit me like a horse-drawn cart in the chest. But… I put those feelings aside. I’m willing to put myself in danger for those I care about. Those I have grown to love. Sheryl, Matthew, Mace, Taz, Gegrun and Wil are the folks I joined with naturally. I made arrangements in the days before the war for a plan to be in place in case anything especially happened to Sheryl, the familiar I now summon through your power was to sit in her inner pocket and I’d push through healing power through her if something were to happen. Thankfully, I didn’t have to resort to this. I should add, I’ve been honing in on my latent childhood musical talents as of late, and have been enjoying it. We shall see where that adventure travels in the future. Once we set off, via Daring Heights, we were transported directly to one of the forward bases of the war, and were quickly dispatched to somewhere in Nrav’Garat. The giants had already laid siege to the area. We were advised by the K’ulgoranians in the forward base that we needed to rescue some people trapped in nearby houses. Internally, I breathed a sigh of relief, a rescue mission is a lot more within my capability. Given what one ogre did to me in Kundar all those months ago, imagine what a swarm of giants could do. Doesn’t bare thinking about. We agreed, as a coterie, that stealth was going to be key and we could get around the bugbear and goblins in front of us easily enough, in-fighting between them. Of course, that would have worked had I not tripped, and hurtled nose-first straight at the floor. I could have probably avoided screaming the loudest swear word ever heard too, but it really, really hurt. So, naturally the goblins and bugbear reacted, and we ended up fighting. Sure, I didn't do a massive amount to help with that, but I did annoy and make fun of the bugbear enough that he felt the need to throw his weapon at me (ow), shortly followed by his shield (OW). Thankfully, as a team dispatched them quick enough. Sheryl took the opportunity, while we distracted the combatants, to head off to the houses in the distance. I made sure that she was within range so I could push my healing magic through Ida at all times, I think I’ve become quite a good judge of distances. I took it upon myself to keep distracting the bugbear, he was the biggest target other than the giants at the time, and… I think I did a good job. When something throws both it’s offensive weapon and it’s defensive object at you when you’re flying, that’s when you know you’ve made an impact on that person’s day, right? Yep, that happened. And I am still standing, and they aren’t! Score. After they were dispatched, I moved on to help Sheryl search the houses, as did Taz. Sheryl found people, we didn’t. We searched every intact house, and didn’t find anyone else. We guided the children Sheryl discovered to the safety of the base, and were informed they were falling back. Giants were starting to approach this part of the city (having already very nearly crushed me with a boulder or three), and it was no longer safe. Tactics and safety, I can get behind that. So, our next challenge was heading back to where we just came from, and to face the giant head-on. Hooray. When we returned, slightly further through the city space than we were before, we heard noises from behind us approaching at rather high speed. While others took the opportunity to dodge out of the way, instead curiosity had settled in and my cowardice had now apparently entirely vanished and I flew upwards, looking out for what was approaching. I didn’t have to look hard to see something crashing through the city towards us, stopping not far away from me. OH YAY, OGRES. THREE OF THEM. My worst nightmare, coming back to haunt me, this time in triplicate. That cowardice returned again in full right there and then. Well, I wish it did, I wish it even had time to. What actually happened was Matthew making his grand re-entry and being… well, him. Battle restarted between a huge pile of everything, Taz and Matthew dealing with the ogres, Sheryl, Mace and Wil dealing with the giant and wolves and things, and me floating in between suffering from flashbacks. Taz and Matthew did an amazing number on the ogres, but not without the ogres doing a number on Matthew too. I would have helped, but he looked fine. Instead, I patted him on the back offering inspiration, before launching an artillery fireball in the direction of the giant. Shame he was a fire giant, so he took the damage much like I would. Sigh. It took a while, but everything went well, nobody died, and Nrav’Garat was… destroyed, but I think we did an absolute marvellous job of fighting off whatever came our way, and holding our line. Would I do a war again? No. No I would not. Regards, as ever, Arkadius Hogg, Port Ffirst Postmaster
Dearest Swan, I’ve not written to you in a while. Again, I let things slip. Things have changed since the last time I wrote to you, and I’ve been spending less time writing letters, and more time… well, delivering other people’s letters. Since we last spoke, I formed Port Ffirst’s first postal system, Ffirst Airmail, and have been running that as a private enterprise for a little while. I even started a band! But that’s not why I am writing to you. I’ve been avoiding the subject of war for as long as it was going on, over in K’ul Goran. I’ll admit, at times I can be a right coward. I don’t want to die, or be hurt, or anything. Some days, I wonder what you saw in me that made you think I deserve all this, all that you have given me. But I digress… K’ul Goran alerted us that the final throes of war were approaching through a simple message, “Help Us Hope". Naturally, those I call my closest allies said they were heeding the call, and those pangs of cowardness hit me like a horse-drawn cart in the chest. But… I put those feelings aside. I’m willing to put myself in danger for those I care about. Those I have grown to love. Sheryl, Matthew, Mace, Taz, Gegrun and Wil are the folks I joined with naturally. I made arrangements in the days before the war for a plan to be in place in case anything especially happened to Sheryl, the familiar I now summon through your power was to sit in her inner pocket and I’d push through healing power through her if something were to happen. Thankfully, I didn’t have to resort to this. I should add, I’ve been honing in on my latent childhood musical talents as of late, and have been enjoying it. We shall see where that adventure travels in the future. Once we set off, via Daring Heights, we were transported directly to one of the forward bases of the war, and were quickly dispatched to somewhere in Nrav’Garat. The giants had already laid siege to the area. We were advised by the K’ulgoranians in the forward base that we needed to rescue some people trapped in nearby houses. Internally, I breathed a sigh of relief, a rescue mission is a lot more within my capability. Given what one ogre did to me in Kundar all those months ago, imagine what a swarm of giants could do. Doesn’t bare thinking about. We agreed, as a coterie, that stealth was going to be key and we could get around the bugbear and goblins in front of us easily enough, in-fighting between them. Of course, that would have worked had I not tripped, and hurtled nose-first straight at the floor. I could have probably avoided screaming the loudest swear word ever heard too, but it really, really hurt. So, naturally the goblins and bugbear reacted, and we ended up fighting. Sure, I didn't do a massive amount to help with that, but I did annoy and make fun of the bugbear enough that he felt the need to throw his weapon at me (ow), shortly followed by his shield (OW). Thankfully, as a team dispatched them quick enough. Sheryl took the opportunity, while we distracted the combatants, to head off to the houses in the distance. I made sure that she was within range so I could push my healing magic through Ida at all times, I think I’ve become quite a good judge of distances. I took it upon myself to keep distracting the bugbear, he was the biggest target other than the giants at the time, and… I think I did a good job. When something throws both it’s offensive weapon and it’s defensive object at you when you’re flying, that’s when you know you’ve made an impact on that person’s day, right? Yep, that happened. And I am still standing, and they aren’t! Score. After they were dispatched, I moved on to help Sheryl search the houses, as did Taz. Sheryl found people, we didn’t. We searched every intact house, and didn’t find anyone else. We guided the children Sheryl discovered to the safety of the base, and were informed they were falling back. Giants were starting to approach this part of the city (having already very nearly crushed me with a boulder or three), and it was no longer safe. Tactics and safety, I can get behind that. So, our next challenge was heading back to where we just came from, and to face the giant head-on. Hooray. When we returned, slightly further through the city space than we were before, we heard noises from behind us approaching at rather high speed. While others took the opportunity to dodge out of the way, instead curiosity had settled in and my cowardice had now apparently entirely vanished and I flew upwards, looking out for what was approaching. I didn’t have to look hard to see something crashing through the city towards us, stopping not far away from me. OH YAY, OGRES. THREE OF THEM. My worst nightmare, coming back to haunt me, this time in triplicate. That cowardice returned again in full right there and then. Well, I wish it did, I wish it even had time to. What actually happened was Matthew making his grand re-entry and being… well, him. Battle restarted between a huge pile of everything, Taz and Matthew dealing with the ogres, Sheryl, Mace and Wil dealing with the giant and wolves and things, and me floating in between suffering from flashbacks. Taz and Matthew did an amazing number on the ogres, but not without the ogres doing a number on Matthew too. I would have helped, but he looked fine. Instead, I patted him on the back offering inspiration, before launching an artillery fireball in the direction of the giant. Shame he was a fire giant, so he took the damage much like I would. Sigh. It took a while, but everything went well, nobody died, and Nrav’Garat was… destroyed, but I think we did an absolute marvellous job of fighting off whatever came our way, and holding our line. Would I do a war again? No. No I would not. Regards, as ever, Arkadius Hogg, Port Ffirst Postmaster
Revisiting The Incident
30th of Uktar, 1496
It had been a long night, and Arkadius had been fast asleep for most of it having worked hard for the majority of the day. He was joined by Ida the fiendish weasel familiar, sleeping soundly resting on the pillow near his shoulder. Arkadius had admitted on the second night that it felt weird her cuddling in close there, but Ida then admitted she felt comfortable being there. He wasn't going to begrudge her that, given what was to happen in the near future. They both shared the thought that comfort came above anything else at the moment. They both shared most thoughts, given the telepathic link.
The tavern disappeared in a flash of red light, blinding Arkadius. All he could see was red, and the light flicking about directly in his eyes. They slowly adjusted, and as his gaze adjusted something started flicking among the threads of red light, the threads slowly entwining at times to become unclear images, over time becoming clearer and clearer. It filled Arkadius with feelings of hope, power and success. The images showed... they flicked by far too quickly for any kind of recognition, but the feeling of power kept growing within him. After a few moments, the feeling stopped, replaced by sadness, urgency and regret. This lasts for another few moments, before being replaced with a different kind of urgency, not of sadness but of... hope, and of having work to do that matters to more than just one person. Duty, honour, and confidence. A voice cut through the images, not one that Arkadius recognised, and definitely not the Visitor's voice. For starters, it sounded very much... female. The future is what you make of it, Little One. It bends in more than one way, and fate has a way of... fracturing the world as you know it. Arkadius Hogg, you and him are entwined now, whatever may become of it whether good or bad. I entrust him to you as my representative, and entrust you to him. I trust that both of you will... There was a pause for a moment, the images of light still swimming in Arkadius' vision. ...eventually benefit from the... mutual arrangement. A figure swam clearly into view, made up of the threads of light. It hovered there for a moment, before allowing it's two arms to move, hands clapping together harshly...
A loud bang caused Arkadius to snap awake immediately, bolting upright in his bed. Ida stirred slowly, the telepathic link reengaging as she did. Arkadius was gasping for breath, trying hard to recover from what he'd seen, his thoughts swimming between everything he had just remembered in his dream, trying oh so quickly to process. Was that real?, he asked himself, and Ida answered slowly via their mental link, I'd say so. I had the same dream. It was... definitely a dream, but it felt so real to me, if you know what I mean? Arkadius sighed, resting his hand down on the bed next to Ida. She instinctively climbed up it, sitting on his shoulder. "Okay. I'm wide awake, and it is early morning, and I think trying to go back to sleep is just going to be... pointless. I'm gonna go open the shop early, do some sorting and... see what comes of today." Just a few hours later would be when Sheryl would appear through his door, the bell above the door tinkling to address her arrival.
The tavern disappeared in a flash of red light, blinding Arkadius. All he could see was red, and the light flicking about directly in his eyes. They slowly adjusted, and as his gaze adjusted something started flicking among the threads of red light, the threads slowly entwining at times to become unclear images, over time becoming clearer and clearer. It filled Arkadius with feelings of hope, power and success. The images showed... they flicked by far too quickly for any kind of recognition, but the feeling of power kept growing within him. After a few moments, the feeling stopped, replaced by sadness, urgency and regret. This lasts for another few moments, before being replaced with a different kind of urgency, not of sadness but of... hope, and of having work to do that matters to more than just one person. Duty, honour, and confidence. A voice cut through the images, not one that Arkadius recognised, and definitely not the Visitor's voice. For starters, it sounded very much... female. The future is what you make of it, Little One. It bends in more than one way, and fate has a way of... fracturing the world as you know it. Arkadius Hogg, you and him are entwined now, whatever may become of it whether good or bad. I entrust him to you as my representative, and entrust you to him. I trust that both of you will... There was a pause for a moment, the images of light still swimming in Arkadius' vision. ...eventually benefit from the... mutual arrangement. A figure swam clearly into view, made up of the threads of light. It hovered there for a moment, before allowing it's two arms to move, hands clapping together harshly...
A loud bang caused Arkadius to snap awake immediately, bolting upright in his bed. Ida stirred slowly, the telepathic link reengaging as she did. Arkadius was gasping for breath, trying hard to recover from what he'd seen, his thoughts swimming between everything he had just remembered in his dream, trying oh so quickly to process. Was that real?, he asked himself, and Ida answered slowly via their mental link, I'd say so. I had the same dream. It was... definitely a dream, but it felt so real to me, if you know what I mean? Arkadius sighed, resting his hand down on the bed next to Ida. She instinctively climbed up it, sitting on his shoulder. "Okay. I'm wide awake, and it is early morning, and I think trying to go back to sleep is just going to be... pointless. I'm gonna go open the shop early, do some sorting and... see what comes of today." Just a few hours later would be when Sheryl would appear through his door, the bell above the door tinkling to address her arrival.
The Naming of the Weasel
28th of Uktar, 1496
It had been a busy month, and Arkadius had been spending less and less time travelling away from Port Ffirst. He'd also become a lot more careful in his paths through the skies of the city after the shoulder-pain incident very nearly ended his life far too early. He shuddered to himself for a moment, remembering that evening. He'd taken painstaking efforts to ensure that he didn't let his mind drift whilst working again. He was sure that his past memories had caused the pain, and that in no way was it real. He'd stayed resolute that he would think very much about the future, and only think of the past when it was actually relevant to the situation. And for now, he had decided it wasn't.
He was stood next to his desk in the rear area of the newly refurbished Ffirst Airmail, tapping it lightly for a few moments before resuming his pacing back and forth. He was muttering to himself for most of it, but every so often he would speak up so his voice was fully audible to the room, stopping his pacing and turning to his desk. "But Seta... How are we feeling about Seta? ...It means silk. ...I thought it would be appropriate because... alright, forget it, jeez!"
He resumed pacing, muttering to himself again. This continued for a few minutes, before he turned abruptly to the desk again. "Yes, I understand that Whiskers, I do... Whiskers? Yeah, you're right. Makes you sound like a cat... I mean, you could be a cat?", he said, before giggling to himself for a moment, "Yes, good point. A cat probably wouldn't fit in a pocket. Continue." The pacing resumed for another minute, before he stopped, rubbing his chin with one of his six fingers. "How about Sparkle? Cause, you know... you can help me... Yeah, I can't keep a straight face either."
This continued for a good hour or so, back and forth of different names between him and the air before he sat back at his desk. The weasel sat there took the opportunity of Arkadius' arm resting on the desk for a split second to jump up and find her place on his shoulder. "Well, at least you're comfortable with me now. The first day when you were there, you couldn't get comfortable at all. We're moving on with the times it seems, he said smiling at the weasel, now sat comfortably on his shoulder. "I still think I'd prefer you settling in my inner coat pocket though. You'll be safer there. Yes, yes, only when we're out and about, I remember the deal we made."
He sighed loudly. "Yes, I know I am distracting myself from making a decision. I know! You don't need to keep REMINDING ME!" His fist slammed down onto the desk as he said the word "me", and the weasel hopped down his arm and onto the desk next to it, placing a single hand onto Arkadius' fist. This seemed to have a significant effect, visibly calming him down.
"...I had a friend called Ida, when I was growing up. I always liked that name. You kinda remind me of her a bit, oddly..."
[div]The weasel looked up at him when he said this. "...That works with you? Ida?" he asked, rubbing his chin thoughtfully again with his spare hand, "...Okay, Ida. That works with me too. I'm glad at least one of us can make a decision that easily," he let his other hand drop to the desk, next to his other hand and Ida.
"I really don't want to leave my friends go alone. I don't want them risking their lives while I just stay here, not risking mine. It just feels so... wrong. But then, it's such a dangerous endeavour. What if something happens to them, and I could have prevented it? We could have prevented it? I couldn't forgive myself if something were to happen. But then if I were to go and risk myself too... Well, I might not be in a position to regret anything myself, cause I might be dead. Yes, we, sorry. We might be dead."
Ida again placed a hand on Arkadius', and he smiled. "I think I should stop being a coward, and... what is it they say, man up? You're right. I can do it. YES, WE, I KNOW, SORRY. This is a lot to get used to, okay?"
Out of Character Note: This post was to introduce Arkadius' familiar, Ida the weasel, as gained from his Warlock patron Pact of the Tome/Book of Ancient Secrets 'Find Familiar' ritual spell.
Case of the Still Missing Person
25th of Eleint, 1496
To my dearest friend Mace,
I hope that this missive finds you well. Actually, my main hope is that this missive finds you at all, given you've been on holiday from the time we returned from the temple we explored with your new friend.
As you know, ordinarily I write missives and send them out into the ether destinationless, however this time I thought that it would be polite of me to keep you abreast with ongoing events in the world, while you take your holiday, given you did so with me while I was recovering recently. I'll admit, you tasked me with looking after things for you while you were away, and... I may have stepped out for a little while longer than I originally expected to. All will be made clear.
So, I heard rumours of a cat who had put up a notice about some missing people. Now, this "case" sounded rather familiar and interesting, so I immediately travelled out to meet up and assist. We visited the Countess' manor to question some guards and Donovan the Butler, where I think we caused more disruption than garnered useful information. Thankfully I was able to prevent too much ill-will by donating some recuperation funds to the guards.
Following this, we travelled to one of the Countess' warehouses... Or intended to, we were interrupted by a distraction and bait operation that even you would be proud of (sidenote: Lots to learn from this), and we received a note saying "Don't play their games", basically. Bubbles saw one of the fellows who did the thing in an alley in then distance, and tried to bolt to follow but Rama held her back. I didn't help matters when I said "If they wanted us to follow, they'd have left slower". This seemed to incentivise her going as she just... Bolted. We made chase, and... Yeah, ok, the fellow was waiting around the corner.
After a discussion with him, he seemed to want to... Perhaps this is better being discussed in person. He gave us a very, very good lead on the missing person we were chasing: they sailed away. Far away. Either back to the Sword Coast, or to K'ul Goran. Our new contact was able to source us further contacts to assist, and lo and behold... We were teleported over to K'ul Goran. Say, isn't there a war going on there at the moment? I was hesitant to travel there, but I was assured the area we were headed to was safe.
Sheryl had a... Friend who could get us there safe. We teleported. Met up with our contact, me and Sheryl had a good few hours of drinking, then we had a ride on this... Vehicle thing our new friend Rama rented. Seriously, it was unbelievably fast.
We got to the edge of the jungle where we believe our lost friend was headed, and our feline friend Greebo picked up on their trace. It wasn't long before we reached a clearing with tents and an old campfire...
...Which is where we were set upon by a group of... Things. In retrospect and following some light readings, they are... were very clearly raptors. Sheryl and Bubbles didn't have much fun fighting them, and to be honest me and my cowardly self in the air didn't either really.
After a short period of time, some fellows came to rescue us. A lizard a hobgoblin and a... My memory falters. I'm tempted to say goblin, but I am likely wrong. They attacked the rapters viciously, but Rama heroically took the last kill.
They took us to their home underground, a haven for outlanders, which is apparently spread out under the whole of K'ul Goren (I know what you are thinking, and I agree, it is worth discussing). I did find a map in the camp of where the entrances were, but this was destroyed unfortunately.
We were led back to the city, and we were transported back to Port Ffirst, where I am writing this to you before I head back to catch up on matters at the shop.
Again, my apologies that I had to step out while looking after matters on your behalf, however I also believe you will understand when I say that these other matters were... More pressing.
Hoping you return soon,
Signed,
Arkadius Hogg
(The parchment and the envelope that it was delivered in smell faintly of brimstone.)
The Old Temple
16th of Eleint, 1946
Dearest Swan,
It has been a while. Almost a month, I would estimate, since I last wrote to you. Perhaps slightly longer, as I did not feel my previous... efforts were worthy of your attention. I have been recuperating as of late, unable to explore and spread the usual cheer that I am known for, related to what I mentioned, my previous unworthy efforts.
Thankfully I am now fully recovered, and grew utterly bored of not being out there with my fellow associates. For one, it pained me that I was unable to assist with my colleague's ventures, and I was reassured that Mace was missing my company too. For two, lying in bed and doing boring administrative nonsense doesn't put to good use the knowledge and power that you instilled within me many years ago, which... is a waste. For both of us.
Nevertheless, with my confidence bolstered and my blood no longer leaking, and Mace having found something with a new friend of his that would be of interest, we travelled out together to a temple in the forest. Don't ask me where the specific location is, I didn't really do the navigation.
There was a lot of discussion regarding wings. Some of it concerned me, given the nature of the discussion spinning around to my own wings. Thankfully put paid to the idea of roasting my wings. Enroute to a location that we reasonably thought our target to be, we all kept busy doing things. For a while, I kept an eye out for any clues on the floor, and then thought about the history of the area. Proved useful, I'd read something about the area before. Rather interesting...
We encountered a weird firbolg in the forest. He seemed confused about how doors worked, seeming to knock on the door in the tree and then opening it himself. The height of rudeness, not waiting for us to say come in. Then again, no idea why he knocked at all... strange fellow. Offered us sage and mushrooms. Enjoyed a bite to eat himself. I didn't pick anything up, having no interest in buying random strange things from people I don't trust.
We continued, guided by the firbolg in the right direction, and encountered the temple, at the bottom of a largeish ditch. The others made their way down the steepish edge, and at least one of them took a tumble (I won't name names). I had a biological advantage in this regard, and casually flew down. Score one for the wing-bearing Tiefling nation!
Once inside, Gegrun (Mace's new associate) cleared some of the rubble, and we made our way inside. The smart wizard fellow, either Kinneard (excuse the spelling, I don't think I saw his name written down properly) or Wil found a hidden button in a wall, hidden amongst the mural, and then Gegrun did his thing and pushed it. Viciously.
Inside, we did more exploring, and Kinneard was curious about some orange haze in the air above our heads. When we moved on, he stayed behind I assume to do some wizardly experiments. He certainly didn't look happy when he caught up to us. Must not have gone well. Shame.
We continued, and came across a great hall slash throne room. This is where things got... interesting. There were imps, and something big. And I mean big. (I've been told since that it's a Bone Devil. Shame I didn't get more time to take a bit of a look, for research purposes.)
I will admit, I don't remember much else, but I hope that this has been useful to you.
Regards and ever in Your service,
Arkadius Hogg
Reminiscing
13th of Elesias, 1496
Arkadius is sat in the Flourished Hook, nursing a glass of whatever cocktail the lovely waitress recommended was the best at the time and brought over to him. Sat alone, he seems to be lost in his own thoughts, considering how it never takes him too long to find his way into trouble. Fun situations, but trouble nonetheless. Considering his own antics over the last few weeks alone, his gleaming orange catlike eyes seem to glaze over, and become paler...
First was the ogre and kobolds in Kundar (as he remembers this, he rubs his hip with a hand absent-mindedly, he still has a small bruise on his side to remember this by). His memory drifts on to the meeting with the dragonborn afterwards. Then there was the trip to the Kundarian mountains, the infernal tree, and… misunderstanding what “they’ve come to replace us” roughly means when kobolds utter the words at you. Since arriving in Kantas from far-away travels, lessons have been learned, and lessons have been… forgotten.
His mind drifts away from events, and onto other things. Jacinta, Mathew, Theo, Mace, Ergin, Bubbles, Sheryl and Faye… Kantas is home to some pretty interesting people, just to name a tiefling-sized handful of them. A smile is seen on Arkadius’ face. Mace in particular was an interesting fellow. ”Captain of Operations. I do like that, he says to himself, under his breath. ”I need to take my friend over to Kundar soon enough, let him practice his Draconic in a natural environment,” more as a verbal-mental note than anything else.
Arkadius’ mind flicks back to the world in front of him, namely the table and the drink, tangible items and relationships in the world. Most important of all of them, Sasha (to make it clear, Sasha is not in the Hook!). He makes a mental note to pay the stables for her stabling and feed, and smiles again. “A toast, to Sasha!”, he says out loud to himself. “And to the Swan, no matter where They may be!”
A Simple Job
22nd of Flamerule, 1496
My Ever-Absent Lady,
It has now been several weeks since I travelled out to Kantas, and haven’t heard from You directly once. All I want is some kind of direction, or a message just to ensure I am still following on Your path as you desire.
Yesterday, I discovered a note on a board promising payment and free drinks for a “simple security job”. On reflection, I have two pointers for myself. Number one: It said concert. Why would I volunteer freely to attend such a performance? I mean, I actually did enjoy the performance put on by my friend Sheryl and new friend Faye, but that isn’t the point, really. Number two: I should remember that there is no such thing as… A. Simple. Job.
We arrived at the tavern, and made our way inside. We were… not inconspicuous, so was spotted by who I assumed at the time was the owner pretty quickly. We were ushered downstairs, and briefed as to what our task for the night was: Keep her and her very-important visitor safe at all costs, and do not speak word of the arrangement to anyone else.
(I… am terribly bad at following and or remembering instructions at times. This will eventually become evident.)
Following this exchange, we made our way upstairs back to the main room. I took up position at the bar, having confirmed that this was a suitable vantage point to keep an eye on the room. For once, I felt confident and competent. This feeling would indeed falter over the course of the night, I assure you. My friends Faye and Sheryl took up position on the stage, and unleashed what I can only describe as a brilliant performance, ably assisted by my clapping to welcome them on the stage. After a while, I noticed our employer and her esteemed guest making their way downstairs, so I took the initiative to head over to the top of the stairs to prevent unauthorised snooping and access. Thankfully, Theo and Stedd also took up position with me, and made it look a lot less… obvious and awkward. We attempted to blend in, and I believe we did a good job of doing so.
Fortunate we took up this position too, as a goblin woman made an appearance and asked what was going on. I received a mental message from Faye to ask who she was (always appreciate support from friends), and the goblin definitely did not appreciate this, and became confrontational. She managed to squeeze her way past my leg (I really need to work on my leg strength… and my everything-else strength), and would have very narrowly made her way down the stairs if it wasn’t for the quick thinking of my associates Stedd and Theo. Their quick thinking averted a potential disaster.
But sadly, another was already unfolding, in the form of events from downstairs. Shortly after our employer came back upstairs and took the goblin woman away from us, we heard screams from downstairs. Naturally, I bolted downstairs towards the danger (my speciality, as previously noted), and prepared for what was to come.
As always, long story short, a battle ensued as an old woman with a glaive was preparing (and already had) attacked the guest, and we took action. We were very competent, right up to the end where… we discovered exactly what we were up against was a formidable opponent, an oni. It managed to take quite a few of us out unconscious, and I believe Stedd took up the charge to finally dispatch it in a most glorious manner. Sadly, I was out for the count, so can’t really tell that story accurately.
Afterwards, we took the time to ensure the safety and security of the guest. I used my last remaining power granted by You to make the guest invisible, and Sheryl guided her to a safe space. We decanted our knowledge to our employer, who closed the tavern early and made preparations for a safehouse for the guest, who is now… I assume, safe.
As always, in Your eternal service,
Arkadius Hogg
Golden Hour
17th of Flamerule, 1496
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In the Shadow of Kundar
15th of Flamerule, 1496
My Lady,
Given a continued lack of direction from Yourself, I have stayed within the Kantas region picking up odd-jobs here and there to maintain myself with lodgings and sustenance. The most notable of recent events was a follow-up visit to the area surrounding Kundar, or more specifically the mountains nearby.
Myself and a few others met up at the northern gate, with our new associate. I will be honest, I took the time to make meticulous notes regarding this encounter, and… don’t have them to hand. I assure you, I will do better in time.
At this meeting near the gate, I was duly noted as the leader of the group by the kobold (who thankfully was either very much unware or very much didn’t care for the antics we engaged in within the Kundar city walls the week prior), which… I didn’t decline, but also didn’t massively appreciate. I do not do leading, I do… well, hurtling first-hand into danger seems to be my speciality, really. Our task was to locate a long-lost monastery in the Kundarian mountains. This time, instead of a caravan trip, we walked. Our guide was ably assisted by myself, his notes on the journey from Kundar to our location were meticulous, and it was a simple task to reverse and follow. We made good time, if I recall correctly.
We skirted the city (for the best, I feel. I think I should give Kundar a wide berth for a few weeks, lest I be notorious) and proceeded towards the mountain path. I scouted ahead from the air (the first time I stretched my wings properly since the ogre incident), and was able to spot our potential path. We proceeded along this path, coming up to a fortress-gate-like building. Inside it looked like it had been ransacked, and when continuing I believe we found the very kobolds who found the entrance before us. They were worried that we would replace them as agents of "The Mistress". I will admit, I misheard this as them wanting to be replaced, and thought this to be a positive for us, before my associates quickly assisted with correcting my mistake. Needless to say, the majority of these kobolds, if not all of them (not urban-dwellers, I will add) are… no longer here to fool me a second time.
We then met The Mistress herself, who thought us able replacements for her previous minions, who failed her (this also helped to correct my mistaken thoughts from earlier). The Mistress asked us to break into the tunnels beneath the literate tree writing in Infernal (hey, having three Tieflings in the coterie helped in this instance!), and get whatever is in there for her. Alas, I will be unavailable to make the return journey to complete this adventure, and sadly returned home (or where I am considering my home for now) feeling slightly… more cautious.
Yours in eternal service,
Arkadius Hogg
Return to Kundar
3rd of Flamerule, 1496
You know, it's been many a year since I put quill to parchment and made notes on my adventures. I really should have thought it through better. Perhaps during my future adventures, I will do a better job and actually document what is happening as it progresses, ensuring more accurate reporting. Regardless, my adventure through Kundar will provide good practise for future efforts, and serve as a reminder to keep notes. (Bad Arkadius.)
The day started with a summons for aid from a fellow called Rivaann. Certainly, in my memory, he is the very definition of a portly Dragonborn and I have seen none more befitting this description. Just as pompous as one would expect too. Nice wine selection, but the entertainment was… shall we say, to avoid arguments, not what I would have chosen?
We were tasked as a coterie to travel to Kundar by any means necessary and make contact with the Kundarian Dragonborn, and perform reconasance… reconisance… recon the city. Three of us teleported ahead, and the other three took a cart (myself included, my finances don't allow for the luxury of teleportation). On the cart, further entertainment disputes took place, and no further note on this shall be made. (I think we are on the route to making peace.)
On arrival to Kundar, our associates had made sterling work of reconning the city, however were hampered from making contact with Dragonborn due to language barriers (I was the only member of the coterie with intimate knowledge of the Draconic language, my Patron's lessons came in very handy). They did however make contact with and endear themselves to very useful contacts.
We stayed at a tavern called… Michelles? The spelling was indecipherable, but it was an utterly charming establishment. I must remember it next time I am in Kundar.
There, we made contact with Dragonborn, and there we learnt of a resistance brewing. Long story short, we arranged for contact with the resistance larger, however were ambushed by Kobolds riding an ogre. A fight ensued, and I missed part of this fight after foolishly making myself prime target by floating in the very eyeline of the angry ogre. (BAD ARKADIUS.)
We fought and won, and this is where Matthew, the Aasimar bard assisted me and I think we are making in-roads to repairing our… faulted relations. (Very, very bad Arkadius. Do better.) We also met with the resistance, and have contacts cemented in Kundar for future meetings.
Lessons have been learned: Avoid eyelines of angry creatures when flying.
The End of Life in Waterdeep
Greengrass, 1492
“Jornos…” Arkadius quietly pleaded, hoping his husband would hear and understand the hidden meaning in the plea as he reached out to stop him. His paranoia that had been bubbling quietly under the surface was now in full stream, clouding every move and action, every signal in Arkadius’ brain, and he fully believed no good would come of anybody stepping foot into the hallway, let alone opening the door to the house. It was obvious that Jornos either didn’t hear Arkadius, or had ignored his quiet plea, as the half-elf stepped out of the office and down the hallway, out of sight, trying to peer out of the window in the front door.
Before Arkadius could take a step towards the hallway, the air was punctured with an extremely loud crash, shortly followed by another. Arkadius reacted without hesitation and without any thought or care, his instincts kicking in immediately. He rushed into the hallway, his primary goals to find out what was going on and, above all else, protect his loved one. As he rushed through the doorway and turned to face Jornos, there was a flurry of movement behind him, and everything went dark.
Arkadius awoke slowly, his vision blurry and dark. It was difficult to concentrate, but his vision was slowly returning. He risked opening his eyes, and he was grateful to see his office. He was not however grateful to see Jornos, his husband and former mentor tied to a chair. He attempted to call out and stand up to reach out for him, however he found himself also tied up to a chair and gagged. No amount of struggling was freeing him, he discovered, shuffling to try and escape. It was no use, whoever had done this had done an excellent job of trapping him. A male voice came from behind his ear, a mere inch away, slow and calm. ”She is displeased, our mutual friend. She is very displeased, but not with you, little one. She does not believe you had any part in your disappearing act. She is displeased with this,” the figure spat in Jornos’ direction, ”traitor that you call a husband. He was meant to be a mentor, but now She is amused that he has misled you this much.” Arkadius remained utterly still, tears running down his face. Nightmarish images floating through his head were a constant reminder that the idyllic life that he was complaining about an unknown but not too long a period of time ago, given it was still night outside, had no chance of being recovered. Other images of possible escape plans were forming too, but they were mostly put aside by panic, fear and sadness. His heart was calling out constantly, and his gaze was firmly on his husband, who was still unconscious, slumped over in the chair, only kept upright by the bindings. The figure who had been standing directly behind Arkadius, talking into his ear stepped in front of him, blocking Arkadius’ line of sight of Jornos. He could now see his assailant, a kobold wearing black robes. ”We’ve been watching for a number of days, after you disappeared from Her view for… how long has it been, four years?” the kobold smirked, ”She asked us to find you, and it really wasn’t difficult to follow your… tracks. When the trail went cold in this city, we feared the worst. But then, chance would have it… we found you. And now… you have a choice, granted at Her mercy. You can either return to your destined path, regain Her favour and be on your merry way, or… you can both die here, in a tragic accident. I would say choose quickly, because I lack the… patience that She displays.” The kobold raised his weapon, pointing it at Arkadius in a threatening manner. Arkadius couldn’t quite work out what the weapon was through the blind panic enveloping his mind, but it really didn’t matter for too long. He snapped to attention when the kobold cried out in pain and hit the ground following a candlestick smacking the side of his head loudly with great gusto. Jornos had awoken and broken free of his bindings while the kobold was distracted with Arkadius, and used the opportunity gracefully. When the kobold had fallen, Jornos rushed to Arkadius’ side, ripping the bindings from his arms to free him from the chair first, allowing him to remove the gag himself. ”Arkadius my love, are you alright? Are you hurt?” he asked, hugging Arkadius tightly again. ”I… will be fine. We can’t stay here, we need to inform the Watch that-“ Arkadius was interrupted by Jornos scoffing loudly. ”If She knows we’re here, and She’s after us, then there’s nothing the Watch can do now.” “Then what do you propose? We’ve been here four years, we’re settled now. We can’t just leave!” ”We have no other option, Arkadius. But we have to go now, there was two of them, we aren’t all-” Jornos stopped talking, a look of surprise on his face as an arrow planted squarely into his back. The arrow had met its target, and the remaining kobold in the hallway was notching another arrow into his bow. Arkadius could see this, his partner now falling to the ground in front of him, revealing him as a target. He knew what he had to do in this situation, all the training that Jornos had given him previously, when they were growing closer… he raised a hand at the kobold, he barely had to concentrate before his hand was wreathed in the flames. ”You have one chance to get out of my house before I do something I will more than likely not regret,” Arkadius said, the voice coming out of his mouth however wasn’t his own. It was… deeper, calmer and much, much louder than normal. Half the street must have heard it, surely. It was enough to give the kobold archer the creeps, who turned and fled out of the house door in the blink of an eye. Arkadius relaxed the fire, and knelt on the floor, pulling Jornos into his arms. ”Ark, listen to me,” Jornos begged, his breathing threads and slow. ”You… need to go to Kantas. You need to… Fulfil your destiny. Free yourself from… Her chains. Play your music, and… never... forget me.” Jornos managed to get his final words out slowly, before passing into the night.
Arkadius awoke slowly, his vision blurry and dark. It was difficult to concentrate, but his vision was slowly returning. He risked opening his eyes, and he was grateful to see his office. He was not however grateful to see Jornos, his husband and former mentor tied to a chair. He attempted to call out and stand up to reach out for him, however he found himself also tied up to a chair and gagged. No amount of struggling was freeing him, he discovered, shuffling to try and escape. It was no use, whoever had done this had done an excellent job of trapping him. A male voice came from behind his ear, a mere inch away, slow and calm. ”She is displeased, our mutual friend. She is very displeased, but not with you, little one. She does not believe you had any part in your disappearing act. She is displeased with this,” the figure spat in Jornos’ direction, ”traitor that you call a husband. He was meant to be a mentor, but now She is amused that he has misled you this much.” Arkadius remained utterly still, tears running down his face. Nightmarish images floating through his head were a constant reminder that the idyllic life that he was complaining about an unknown but not too long a period of time ago, given it was still night outside, had no chance of being recovered. Other images of possible escape plans were forming too, but they were mostly put aside by panic, fear and sadness. His heart was calling out constantly, and his gaze was firmly on his husband, who was still unconscious, slumped over in the chair, only kept upright by the bindings. The figure who had been standing directly behind Arkadius, talking into his ear stepped in front of him, blocking Arkadius’ line of sight of Jornos. He could now see his assailant, a kobold wearing black robes. ”We’ve been watching for a number of days, after you disappeared from Her view for… how long has it been, four years?” the kobold smirked, ”She asked us to find you, and it really wasn’t difficult to follow your… tracks. When the trail went cold in this city, we feared the worst. But then, chance would have it… we found you. And now… you have a choice, granted at Her mercy. You can either return to your destined path, regain Her favour and be on your merry way, or… you can both die here, in a tragic accident. I would say choose quickly, because I lack the… patience that She displays.” The kobold raised his weapon, pointing it at Arkadius in a threatening manner. Arkadius couldn’t quite work out what the weapon was through the blind panic enveloping his mind, but it really didn’t matter for too long. He snapped to attention when the kobold cried out in pain and hit the ground following a candlestick smacking the side of his head loudly with great gusto. Jornos had awoken and broken free of his bindings while the kobold was distracted with Arkadius, and used the opportunity gracefully. When the kobold had fallen, Jornos rushed to Arkadius’ side, ripping the bindings from his arms to free him from the chair first, allowing him to remove the gag himself. ”Arkadius my love, are you alright? Are you hurt?” he asked, hugging Arkadius tightly again. ”I… will be fine. We can’t stay here, we need to inform the Watch that-“ Arkadius was interrupted by Jornos scoffing loudly. ”If She knows we’re here, and She’s after us, then there’s nothing the Watch can do now.” “Then what do you propose? We’ve been here four years, we’re settled now. We can’t just leave!” ”We have no other option, Arkadius. But we have to go now, there was two of them, we aren’t all-” Jornos stopped talking, a look of surprise on his face as an arrow planted squarely into his back. The arrow had met its target, and the remaining kobold in the hallway was notching another arrow into his bow. Arkadius could see this, his partner now falling to the ground in front of him, revealing him as a target. He knew what he had to do in this situation, all the training that Jornos had given him previously, when they were growing closer… he raised a hand at the kobold, he barely had to concentrate before his hand was wreathed in the flames. ”You have one chance to get out of my house before I do something I will more than likely not regret,” Arkadius said, the voice coming out of his mouth however wasn’t his own. It was… deeper, calmer and much, much louder than normal. Half the street must have heard it, surely. It was enough to give the kobold archer the creeps, who turned and fled out of the house door in the blink of an eye. Arkadius relaxed the fire, and knelt on the floor, pulling Jornos into his arms. ”Ark, listen to me,” Jornos begged, his breathing threads and slow. ”You… need to go to Kantas. You need to… Fulfil your destiny. Free yourself from… Her chains. Play your music, and… never... forget me.” Jornos managed to get his final words out slowly, before passing into the night.
Five Years of Waterdeep
Greengrass, 1492
Pacing. Nervous, restless and uneasy pacing. That’s what Arkadius had been doing for hours, trying to get rid of the excess energy that had been building in his body over the last few days… weeks… months… years. At first, he was fine with it, trying to settle down and make a home with the one he loved. They’d both been fine with it, but now it was starting to grate on him. He needed to go out and do something that wasn’t in the city. Waterdeep wasn’t his home, it would never be, his home was out there in the world.
”Arkadius, honey. What’s wrong?”, asked a half-elf, who had appeared and was now leaning on the wall of the doorway between the office room and the hallway. Concern was written all over the half-elf’s facial features, as he watched Arkadius pacing around the room.
”You know what’s wrong. Don’t act like you don’t, because neither of us is that stupid,” he snapped back quickly and angrily. The moment he finished the sentence, he stopped pacing, slapped his hand against his eyes and forehead quickly, before facing the half-elf. ”I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say that.”
The half-elf stood up straight and sighed, walking towards Arkadius. “Yes, Arkadius, you did, but we’re both glad you did say it.” He wrapped his arms around Arkadius’ hips, and hugged him tightly. “As you say, neither of us is stupid. But humour me, in your own words… what is wrong?”
Arkadius sighed as well, visibly more relaxed. “I can’t bear this anymore. This… idyllic life in the city, a life of peace and prosperity. You know as well as I do that it isn’t meant for us. We can’t just… sit around and not do things. We can’t settle down. Not while She is still out there. I mean, how do you do it?! How are you so relaxed, when She could be right outside, waiting for us. I can’t relax, I can’t forget Her, and…”
The half-elf put a finger on Arkadius’ mouth, “I haven’t once forgotten the promise we have both made to Her. Don’t think I haven’t, not for a second. We’ve never spoken about this, but I promise you this is what She wanted. Well…” his voice dropped to a whisper after he chuckled to himself for a moment, “I don’t think She quite expected us to travel to Waterdeep, get married and settle down quite like this.”
Arkadius was confused. Neither of the pair had discussed their situation since they had arrived and set up home in Waterdeep four years ago, even though it had felt wrong to Arkadius that they were settling down rather than continuing their lifelong journey. “She… wanted us to not continue on the journey? What do you mean?”
The half-elf gave Arkadius a quick kiss before letting go of him and walking towards the door. “Can we not have this conversation in the middle of the night? Can we also not discuss this on your birthday, too? We can just go back to bed, and…”
The half-elf’s words were interrupted, and his sentence cut short by a sharp knocking from the hallway. Arkadius’ eyes darted straight to the space behind the half-elf, who had also visibly tensed up. After a split second, he seemed to relax. “I wonder who that is, knocking the door at this time of night?”
Arkadius was still tense, paranoia very much settled in his head. “Jornos…”
The Path to Waterdeep
Various dates
Journal Snippets from Arkadius Hogg
2nd of Marpenoth, 1484
Jornos has thankfully allowed us a week resting up in a town before travelling onwards, and I am making these notes while he is away elsewhere. Don’t ask me where we are, because I don’t have a clue. He was able to use his natural abilities as a Changeling to make us appear to be a travelling couple so it didn’t seem strange us staying in the same room in the tavern, it was quite weird seeing him change so drastically, compared to the odd small changes he has been making to himself as we’ve been travelling so far, over the last few months. The odd change of his face here, a change in hair colour there. It really is… fascinating.
1st of Hammer, 1485 Jornos and I resumed our journey onwards frm that town three months ago, and we’ve been travelling since. I’ve been doing my best to keep up with the dates, and if I am correct, it’s a new year. My first new year away from Fallford. Speaking of, we’ve been talking about Fallford as of late, and Jornos told me that it isn’t actually on the Material plane, where we are now. He tells me we actually travelled between planes when we traipsed through that forest the first few nights. I don’t really believe him, it sounds like rubbish. It’s rubbish… right?
11th of Tarsakh, 1485 Something quite peculiar happened today. Something I didn’t anticipate, and it made me smile. Jornos and I had stopped in a village, just for the night, and we had a drink in the tavern before we rested up for the night. I’ve noticed he’s been softening towards me the last few months, we’re getting used to each other’s company. I didn’t expect him to warm up this much though. We were having that drink, and I could have sworn I felt his foot brushing up against mine under the table. Not sure if it was an accident or not, but I certainly noticed a blush in his cheeks afterwards too. I shall… perhaps keep an eye on this, in time.
Greengrass, 1485 I am reminded today of the event in the tavern, earlier this month… last month. I was surprised this morning by Jornos congratulating me for surviving another year, and… he presented me with a rose. He also looked very different, he was in this… elven-like appearance. He told me it was a younger appearance that he was quite partial to, and… I’ll admit, it did set my heart racing a little bit. It made me feel things I hadn’t before. And then he kissed me. Not full-on, just a peck on the cheek. But as he did so, I couldn’t stop myself from returning it back to him. I did say I would watch for developments on this, looks like it watched out for me first.
Greengrass, 1486 It’s been a year. We’ve been dating, if you can call it that, for a whole year. And today, Jornos surprised me much like he did last year with another birthday celebration. He delivered me with another bright red rose, but also said that we were nearing our next destination. Apparently, we’ll be staying in Waterdeep for some time. I’d heard of this city, it’s pretty amazing and wonderful. I think I shall enjoy staying here with him. I think it’ll be a nice change.
1st of Hammer, 1485 Jornos and I resumed our journey onwards frm that town three months ago, and we’ve been travelling since. I’ve been doing my best to keep up with the dates, and if I am correct, it’s a new year. My first new year away from Fallford. Speaking of, we’ve been talking about Fallford as of late, and Jornos told me that it isn’t actually on the Material plane, where we are now. He tells me we actually travelled between planes when we traipsed through that forest the first few nights. I don’t really believe him, it sounds like rubbish. It’s rubbish… right?
11th of Tarsakh, 1485 Something quite peculiar happened today. Something I didn’t anticipate, and it made me smile. Jornos and I had stopped in a village, just for the night, and we had a drink in the tavern before we rested up for the night. I’ve noticed he’s been softening towards me the last few months, we’re getting used to each other’s company. I didn’t expect him to warm up this much though. We were having that drink, and I could have sworn I felt his foot brushing up against mine under the table. Not sure if it was an accident or not, but I certainly noticed a blush in his cheeks afterwards too. I shall… perhaps keep an eye on this, in time.
Greengrass, 1485 I am reminded today of the event in the tavern, earlier this month… last month. I was surprised this morning by Jornos congratulating me for surviving another year, and… he presented me with a rose. He also looked very different, he was in this… elven-like appearance. He told me it was a younger appearance that he was quite partial to, and… I’ll admit, it did set my heart racing a little bit. It made me feel things I hadn’t before. And then he kissed me. Not full-on, just a peck on the cheek. But as he did so, I couldn’t stop myself from returning it back to him. I did say I would watch for developments on this, looks like it watched out for me first.
Greengrass, 1486 It’s been a year. We’ve been dating, if you can call it that, for a whole year. And today, Jornos surprised me much like he did last year with another birthday celebration. He delivered me with another bright red rose, but also said that we were nearing our next destination. Apparently, we’ll be staying in Waterdeep for some time. I’d heard of this city, it’s pretty amazing and wonderful. I think I shall enjoy staying here with him. I think it’ll be a nice change.
The First Sign of Power
16th of Eleint, 1484
“Again. Concentrate more, use some of that brain for something other than daydreaming.” Arkadius glared at Jornos for a few seconds, his impatience at his tutor’s words showing clear as day. He turned to face the tree in front of them, closing his eyes tightly. He raised his right hand, pointing it palm-outwards directly at the tree. His hand began shaking considerably with the effort of concentrating so hard, but whatever was meant to happen evidently didn’t, given Jornos’ sigh and disappointed disposition. “You aren’t concentrating hard enough, Arkadius. This isn’t going to just happen overnight, it isn’t going to work that easily. You need to…”
“CONCENTRATE, AND HARNESS THE POWER,” Arkadius’ voice was significantly louder than normal, weeks of annoyance building up into the one outburst. “Yes, I am very damn aware, Jornos. You’ve said the same thing. Every. Damn. Day. Since we started doing this.” Jornos shook his head, frowning and sighing. “And I will say the same words every day until you actually listen to my words and heed them. Which you are currently not doing. Listen to me, and this’ll all be easier.”
Arkadius’ eyes snapped open quickly as he rotated his body to face Jornos, but whatever he was about to say was interrupted by a small fire appearing and burning in his hand, looking like a miniature bonfire had been built on his palm, facing Jornos, who on the new development now had a wide grin on his face. “Alright, now we’re getting somewhere. So, anger and annoyance is your trigger. We can work with that, that’s something.”
Arkadius was staring at his hand, where the fire sat, his eyes and concentration fixated upon it. He could swear he could see figures moving about within the fire, a scene playing out, but it vanished as quickly as he noticed it. “So, uhh… I now have a bonfire on my hand. This is progress, but let’s discuss next steps here Jornos… how do I, you know, stop my hand being on fire?”
What's an R between F(r)iends?
Midsummer, 1484
The forest was dark, dense and unnaturally silent. The only noise that could be heard was the soft crunching of branches underneath Arkadius' feet. He had been walking for a solid two hours, and was now well and truly out of his comfort zone. Having never stepped foot out of the town limits previously, he was well and truly the furthest from Fallford that he had ever been.
He'd been seeing regular movement out of the corner of his eye, a figure similar to that near the tavern in Fallford flitting between trees in the distance. He’d not been paying it attention, and hadn’t been able to see for definite who or what it was. In his mind, he wasn’t even sure it was anything, just his imagination playing tricks on him. Nothing was for certain at the moment. He was shaking, and starting to become exhausted, but something within him was urging him to continue, to not stop until Fallford was far, far behind him.
"Well, kid. You actually did it," said an all-too-familiar voice from behind him, soft and almost blending in with the unnatural silence in the forest. Arkadius stopped in his tracks immediately, twirling around gracefully to face the voice, bolstered in newfound energy. He'd never felt so acrobatic and athletic before, marvelling in his head for a split-second at how well he maintained his balance, before focusing on the voice. There, leaning on a tree, as casual as you’d like, was the Visitor from last year. "I mean, I know you’re a coward, I saw as much last year. I just didn’t expect it to take quite this long. Neither did She. We started getting impatient, thinking you’d never show, and She wanted to cut you off and move on to the next in line. But here you are, proving us wrong!" The Visitor clapped his hands with a smile, punctuating his sentence very audibly.
Arkadius was surprised by his sudden appearance, but not all that shocked. "I thought it was you, nipping here and there out of the corner of my eye. You’re nimbler than you look," Arkadius smiled at the Visitor. "I had to make preparations to leave Fallford, I couldn’t just disappear overnight, unlike you. I had to make it look… natural."
The Visitor shrugged. "A year though, kid? I suppose better late than never... I should actually properly introduce myself, lest you keep calling me ‘The Visitor’ in your head… nice touch, by the way," he held his hand out for Arkadius to shake, which he did promptly. "My name is Jornos, I will be your… Hmm. How best to put this? Consider me your travelling companion for the rest of time immemorial. I think that’s how long we will be together. I’ll be your guide for what is to come in the world, I will be your friend at times, but remember I am also Swan’s Representative. Until such a time as you prove yourself worthy of Her direct attention, that is. If that happens, which… we have no doubt will happen in time. Well, we had no doubt before, not so sure now."
Arkadius raised his eyebrows, but didn’t question anything. He felt there’d be plenty of time for questions in the future. "I’m here, I followed Her call. The incessant whispering voices. I want to prove myself to Her. Prove that she made the right judgement," he paused for a moment, letting the silence hang, before smiling back at Jornos. "So, if we’re to be together for a while, where are we going first? We can’t be standing around in this forest all night. How about this Kantas place you mentioned, where is that? The story you told was… unbelievable."
Jornos chuckled for a moment. "Relax, Arkadius. Kantas is far away, both in time and location. We have many a long journey ahead of us before we even consider making that particular trip. And that story you don’t believe? That’s not any kind of fake, made-up story, it’s your story. Your future. Your real, hard-earned future. Heed Her words, and our future will be in your hands."
Arkadius snorted. "If I am going to have to put up with you for a while, can you at least knock off the pretentious twaddle and just have a normal conversation every so often?"
Bidding Farewell to Fallford
30th of Flamerule, 1484
Arkadius’ hand trembled as it lay on the tavern door-handle. It had been a year since the stranger had led him there through the town, time seemingly having been frozen. As his hand slightly turned the door-handle, his heart beating fast and hard, the last words the Visitor said to him as he vanished from sight came back to him.
"You are your father's son, full of stubbornness and pride.
Take heed of what he says, but remember you may hear a voice inside.
And if the voice starts to whisper, to follow the farthest star…
Arkadius, that voice inside is who you are."
The words echoed within him, ever since that moment. The voice inside is who you are had become a mantra to him. He had felt a voice calling to him every day, a silent voice inside his head and his heart calling him away from the town. It started as the quietest of quiet whispers, almost like from another continent, but as time passed it became louder and louder, to the point where some days it was all he could think about. He’d often stand near the edge of the nearby forest, looking out into the darkness and wonder what was there, and think about darting into the wilderness and never looking back. He’d never taken the leap though.
Not till today, anyway. Today was the day he would take the leap of faith, he was an adult and he was leaving the dreary, action-less, boring town of Fallford. The tavern door swung open in front of him, nearly pulling him off his feet as the door was pulled away from him. He let go of the door, and stumbled backwards. The giant towering above him looked down, angrily.
"Arkadius, what are you playing at, boy? You could’ve hurt someone, and I brought you up better to be some kind of idiot. Come on now boy, get away back home," Arkadius’ father’s eyes narrowed, glaring down at him. "What’re you doing stood out here, boy?"
Arkadius swallowed, the gulp an audible sound between them. “I.. have made a decision, and I wanted to tell you about it. I’ve decided some things about myself, how I fit into the way of the world in Fallford, what my role is and all that." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a figure darting around the corner of the building. The figure moved quickly, passing out of sight and out of mind quicker than a blink of the eye. Arkadius climbed back up, his father helping him to stand with one hand.
His father’s look of anger turned into confusion, and then into glee as he processed Arkadius' statement, he clapped his hands together. "You’ve decided what you want to do, and how you’ll contribute to the town, finally! Ah, my boy, you can’t believe how happy I am that you’ll finally contribute, have a job, make friends and be..."
“No," Arkadius interjected into his father’s speech to stop him, with as much volume and force as he could muster, which for once was quite great. His father didn't expect such force from Arkadius, and stood there staring at him, his face having returned to utter confusion. He didn't recognise the person that his own son had started to become., he'd never spoken to his father in this tone of voice before. “I was coming to speak to you so that I didn’t do what mother did and vanish into the night without you knowing about it. I’m sorry, father, but… I don’t belong here. I don’t have a role in Fallford, and I am not staying. I came to say… goodbye."
He stood up, brushing himself off of the dirt and dust that he could, and looked at his father for a brief second, before turning away and walking towards the forest. His heart was pumping wildly, the noise pushing away anything else going on around him. His perception of the town around him darkened, a sort of tunnel-vision guiding him towards the forest. He could have sworn he felt his father directly behind him, his hand grasping Arkadius’ shoulder to pull him back to stop him going, but Arkadius shrugged him off with ease. He approached the forest, and didn’t stop walking. He didn’t look back once.
The Incident: Part 4 of 4... for now
28th of Tarsakh, 1483
"Postmaster Arkadius Hogg, at your service. ...Good Gods, that has such a nice ring to it, it's unreal."
Arkadius had been busy bustling around Port Ffirst at top-speed, drumming up business in New Town for his new endeavour, Ffirst Airmail, and route-learning to support his business. During the day, it had become habit to scout around the town and speak to merchants and nobles to advise them of the new service that had become available. During the early morning and late evening when people weren't so chatty, he'd started flying around, both to learn the best routes and paths between different points of the city and to keep his fitness up. Primarily, he needed to learn Port Ffirst like the back of his hand. He needed to know where everything was at the drop of a hat, no time for thinking about it, his livelihood depended on this knowledge.
Every so often as he flew, his thoughts would flicker back to his past...
The Visitor was clearly reaching the point of exasperation. His head dropped into his hand, and he sighed loudly. "…Look, kid. You need to learn how to read between the lines. You’re not gonna have everything drip-fed to you in the future, you hear me?" Arkadius nodded, "Yessir." The Visitor looked apprehensive but shook it off quickly. "It is nearly time for me to go, dear Little One. It’s likely to be some time before we speak again… if we do again at all. If we don’t directly speak again, then… Well, I would say it has been a pleasure but that would be a lie. It’s been infuriating, to tell the truth. I thought there was a flicker of possibility, but I am willing to be proven wrong." Arkadius blinked, processing what the stranger had said for a moment. "I’m sorry," was all he could muster, going quiet for another few seconds, before feeling unnaturally emboldened to speak up, "Actually, no. I am not sorry. I’m not the smartest, or the loudest, or the bravest. But I am me," he said standing up, "And I don’t take too kindly to a stranger who’s barely known me for five minutes coming in here and… putting me down, or something. Thank you for your time, sir, and goodbye." Arkadius made to walk away towards the door to leave angrily, but a hand landing firmly on his shoulder stopped him. "And there it is, that little spark that I needed to see. All I needed was for you to stand up for yourself, to show promise, that you had something. That’s all I needed to see.", the Visitor said, a renewed grin on his face. "You have spirit, deep down, a little ball of spirit. You needn’t and shouldn’t apologise for who you are." The Visitor let his hand drop back to his side, testing to see whether Arkadius would keep going or stay. Arkadius stood still where he had been stopped, "I can work with this. This is… Yes, there is potential here after all." His hand raised up, and rested on Arkadius’ shoulder again, this time wreathed in some kind of red magical light. Arkadius made a move to run away, but he couldn’t, he felt himself magically frozen to the spot. The Visitor’s hand on his shoulder felt…
His attention flicked back instantly to the real world, as he realised he was flying head-first towards a rooftop, that he’d somehow angled himself towards while his attention was drawn back to his past. His shoulder grew suddenly achy, and his head felt like the world was spinning around him. Perhaps it would be best for now to… rest up, and relax.
The Visitor was clearly reaching the point of exasperation. His head dropped into his hand, and he sighed loudly. "…Look, kid. You need to learn how to read between the lines. You’re not gonna have everything drip-fed to you in the future, you hear me?" Arkadius nodded, "Yessir." The Visitor looked apprehensive but shook it off quickly. "It is nearly time for me to go, dear Little One. It’s likely to be some time before we speak again… if we do again at all. If we don’t directly speak again, then… Well, I would say it has been a pleasure but that would be a lie. It’s been infuriating, to tell the truth. I thought there was a flicker of possibility, but I am willing to be proven wrong." Arkadius blinked, processing what the stranger had said for a moment. "I’m sorry," was all he could muster, going quiet for another few seconds, before feeling unnaturally emboldened to speak up, "Actually, no. I am not sorry. I’m not the smartest, or the loudest, or the bravest. But I am me," he said standing up, "And I don’t take too kindly to a stranger who’s barely known me for five minutes coming in here and… putting me down, or something. Thank you for your time, sir, and goodbye." Arkadius made to walk away towards the door to leave angrily, but a hand landing firmly on his shoulder stopped him. "And there it is, that little spark that I needed to see. All I needed was for you to stand up for yourself, to show promise, that you had something. That’s all I needed to see.", the Visitor said, a renewed grin on his face. "You have spirit, deep down, a little ball of spirit. You needn’t and shouldn’t apologise for who you are." The Visitor let his hand drop back to his side, testing to see whether Arkadius would keep going or stay. Arkadius stood still where he had been stopped, "I can work with this. This is… Yes, there is potential here after all." His hand raised up, and rested on Arkadius’ shoulder again, this time wreathed in some kind of red magical light. Arkadius made a move to run away, but he couldn’t, he felt himself magically frozen to the spot. The Visitor’s hand on his shoulder felt…
His attention flicked back instantly to the real world, as he realised he was flying head-first towards a rooftop, that he’d somehow angled himself towards while his attention was drawn back to his past. His shoulder grew suddenly achy, and his head felt like the world was spinning around him. Perhaps it would be best for now to… rest up, and relax.
The Incident: Part 3 of 4
27th of Tarsakh, 1483
Travelling isn't the hardest part of being an adventurer though. Not by far. The hardest part is surviving whatever challenge is thrown at you. Self-inflicted, or otherwise. Arkadius had a... Biological advantage over the majority of the populace in that he sports a pair of wings, which he uses to fly. "What else would you use wings for?", would be his witty retort if you were to ask their purpose.
Twice now they had gotten him into near fatal trouble, in the span of two months. Before he arrived in Kantas, he was fine. Healthy. Not in danger. Much. Actually, self-reflection might be the most dangerous thing for an adventurer.
"Well? Did you take that all in, did it make sense?" the Visitor asked, leaning back on the tavern chair, "...Are you with me... Helloooo?", the Visitor quickly stopped leaning, slamming a hand into the table to grab Arkadius' attention back. Arkadius remained staring at the Visitor for a few moments, before bobbing his head rapidly. "Yes. Sorry. I'm..." He was still processing the words, the story, the meaning. He was putting pieces together in his head he never thought would connect. The Visitor started smiling. "I can feel it within you. You want more. Deserve more. And I promise you, little one. Heed my words and my story, and you'll get more." Arkadius stayed silent for a minute, before piping up. "More what?"
Arkadius reflected on that day and his previous self on a near-daily basis. And he always felt the need to face palm. He had been such an absent-minded idiot back then, but everything is always clearer in hindsight. And eighteen years is plenty of time to learn the new gifts and strengths you'd acquired. He wasn't bored any more. ...Well. He had been as of late. He'd spent a month away from adventuring, which hurt so badly. He spent two weeks recovering from his adventure out at sea, then two weeks doing light work for Mace's venture. Seeing his friend's venture go from strength to strength was... Heart-warming. Knowing he was part of it, even more so. But he knew it was time to venture out again, into the world. His place wasn't at a desk, shuffling paper he barely knew the contents of. His place was out there, with his friend. Which is why when his friend mentioned an old temple, Arkadius had his quarterstaff ready, and his horns polished. Sure, he still smelled of brimstone, but he'd made an effort. He was ready. He was confident. He was dangerous. Ish.
"Well? Did you take that all in, did it make sense?" the Visitor asked, leaning back on the tavern chair, "...Are you with me... Helloooo?", the Visitor quickly stopped leaning, slamming a hand into the table to grab Arkadius' attention back. Arkadius remained staring at the Visitor for a few moments, before bobbing his head rapidly. "Yes. Sorry. I'm..." He was still processing the words, the story, the meaning. He was putting pieces together in his head he never thought would connect. The Visitor started smiling. "I can feel it within you. You want more. Deserve more. And I promise you, little one. Heed my words and my story, and you'll get more." Arkadius stayed silent for a minute, before piping up. "More what?"
Arkadius reflected on that day and his previous self on a near-daily basis. And he always felt the need to face palm. He had been such an absent-minded idiot back then, but everything is always clearer in hindsight. And eighteen years is plenty of time to learn the new gifts and strengths you'd acquired. He wasn't bored any more. ...Well. He had been as of late. He'd spent a month away from adventuring, which hurt so badly. He spent two weeks recovering from his adventure out at sea, then two weeks doing light work for Mace's venture. Seeing his friend's venture go from strength to strength was... Heart-warming. Knowing he was part of it, even more so. But he knew it was time to venture out again, into the world. His place wasn't at a desk, shuffling paper he barely knew the contents of. His place was out there, with his friend. Which is why when his friend mentioned an old temple, Arkadius had his quarterstaff ready, and his horns polished. Sure, he still smelled of brimstone, but he'd made an effort. He was ready. He was confident. He was dangerous. Ish.
The Incident: Part 2 of 4
26th of Tarsakh, 1483
Travelling is tiring, really really tiring. Arkadius would know, as he's been travelling continuously since he left his home and his family at the age of seventeen, eighteen long years ago, staying no longer than a handful of days anywhere, lest his past, troublesome or otherwise, catch up with him. He'd fell into a routine before hearing rumours of things kicking off on the continent of Kantas; travel somewhere new, find an odd job or two, earn some money, spend some of it, drink, move on, repeat.
It was when he started hearing more and more of Kantas that he began to travel in that direction, hoping that one day he would hear again from that Visitor who called themselves a Follower of Swan, and actually get some guidance as to why he had these powers, why he was chosen eighteen years ago, and what he should be doing with his life.
"Before I tell you my story, little one, I have questions… I can sense that you are uncomfortable, In more than one way. You don't like it here. Why do you stay?" the Visitor asked him from across the table, fingers steepled together against it's chin. Arkadius paused, hands held still in a ball on his lap, "This is my home, no matter what. Plus, I'm too young to leave." This answer solicited a snort of derision from the Visitor, thin wisps of smoke coming from his nose. Arkadius did not notice this. "Home is where you feel powerful, not where your family lives or where you lay your hat... Take your father here," the Visitor gestures, to his side, "I've been here just over a week, and I have observed your father in here every night. This isn't inspiration, this is alcoholism." Arkadius blinked for a few moments, unsure of what the Visitor's ultimate point was. The Visitor was visibly growing more annoyed at how oblivious the youngling he had 'chosen' was. "Okay. Forget it. I'll tell you the story, and that'll either help you make up your mind to travel, or make you never, ever, ever leave..."
"Before I tell you my story, little one, I have questions… I can sense that you are uncomfortable, In more than one way. You don't like it here. Why do you stay?" the Visitor asked him from across the table, fingers steepled together against it's chin. Arkadius paused, hands held still in a ball on his lap, "This is my home, no matter what. Plus, I'm too young to leave." This answer solicited a snort of derision from the Visitor, thin wisps of smoke coming from his nose. Arkadius did not notice this. "Home is where you feel powerful, not where your family lives or where you lay your hat... Take your father here," the Visitor gestures, to his side, "I've been here just over a week, and I have observed your father in here every night. This isn't inspiration, this is alcoholism." Arkadius blinked for a few moments, unsure of what the Visitor's ultimate point was. The Visitor was visibly growing more annoyed at how oblivious the youngling he had 'chosen' was. "Okay. Forget it. I'll tell you the story, and that'll either help you make up your mind to travel, or make you never, ever, ever leave..."
The Incident: Part 1 of 4
25th of Tarsakh, 1483
Arkadius stood just outside of the tavern, his hand resting on the door-handle lightly. This moment, this nerve-wracking moment, he had envisioned this moment nearly every day over the span of the last year or so, ever since… "the incident". The moment where he would accost his father, and finally leave town. For good. For good? Hmm. We shall see about that.
He’d had enough of the townsfolk treating him the way they did, and he had it up to his earlobes of being the black sheep of the town (I mean, he was a Tiefling, so... what else did he really expect? In time, he would come to be used to this feeling). It was time to leave. "The incident" still played heavily in his mind too. The day this being called to him and "woke him up" to the troubles of the world, outside the relative calm and humdrum life in the town. And offered up adventures he’d never imagined having. And powers. It was mostly the feeling of escape that endeared Arkadius to the deal that The Fiend was offering, Arkadius had been enthralled through words.
Yes, it was time to leave, and find out what else is going on. Seek adventure, and perhaps have a slightly more… enjoyable life.
Mostly.
Arkadius considered himself to have done very little with his insignificant life. He was born to his blacksmith father and chef mother. He’d lived in the town with his father as an only-child since birth, attending school with the other children and being generally mocked and made fun of on a daily basis (the horns, six fingers, wings and general smell of brimstone certainly don't really help to foster good friendly relations). The Hogg family were the black sheep of the town. Not the best experience for someone to have when growing up. He was well-known as one who enjoyed searching out the next mystery, whilst making meticulous notes about whatever he experienced.
The experiences he had so far in the town he was born barely filled one journal. It wasn’t much fun writing about being belittled or bullied. He’d even tried making up his own mysteries, but… it just wasn’t as fun when you knew the ending from the start.
It was a few days before Arkadius’ birthday where he became an adult that the Fiend arrived into town, disguised of course. It was a few days after his birthday when "the incident" occurred. Arkadius' life was… genuinely insignificant, and nothing exciting happened. It started off being a normal day, before things started getting screwy. People were saying weird things that made no sense whatsoever, and eventually everyone… froze. Apart from the visitor, the nicely-dressed guy in deep midnight-coloured clothes, which were remarkably clean, given that the people of the town hadn’t quite worked out how to pave the roads properly. The townsfolk had elected to whisper about him behind his back, but Arkadius had no idea what they were saying: they had a habit of shutting up rapidly whenever he or the other children got close. The visitor had approached the place where Arkadius sat, enjoying lunch in the schoolroom alone. He was a little shocked to see the man in the school, but he was also highly curious. Especially when he noticed everyone else, the kids and the teacher, were all stood stock-still, as if in a painting.
The Visitor beckoned to Arkadius, as if asking him to follow. He left the school, and weaved his way elegantly between frozen townsfolk over to the tavern. Arkadius followed less elegantly, knocking at least one person over. They both entered the tavern, and only the visitor sat down quickly. The seat he chose was directly next to Arkadius' father, frozen much like everyone else in the town. He gestured to the seat opposite him, the other side of his father. Arkadius shuffled over to the seat, staring all the way at the Visitor. Curiosity might have killed the cat, but Arkadius was more curious about what actually caused the cat to die.
"Now, you must be wondering exactly what is happening. We will get to that, but first…
I want to tell you a story. Something nobody here will ever understand. Something that nobody here will ever probably hear..."
What a way to entice Arkadius. He loves a story. He loved knowledge. His greatest strength, and his greatest weakness. He would do anything for just one more story, one more tidbit of information for his repository.
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